


Serenity

by EchoGalen



Series: The Trials and Tribulations of Achieving Serenity [1]
Category: Lost Girl
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-25
Updated: 2013-10-26
Packaged: 2017-12-24 15:41:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 72,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/941682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoGalen/pseuds/EchoGalen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was just a case. Get in, get out; they would be done and could forget about being undercover wives for the rest of their lives. All Lauren had to do was stay in the house and let Tamsin deal with finding the murderer. But it wasn't that simple and the valkyrie can't hide her feelings after five days with the human; there was just no way.<br/>So what happens after the case when Tamsin tries to balance working for the murderous Morrigan, and her strange relationship with Lauren, Dyson, and the rest of the Sunshine Gang?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Serenity

**Author's Note:**

> As the story progresses, mostly during chapter 10 and upward, it becomes a slight UA in which it is a Copdoc spin on two situations from season 3. Mostly focuses on Lauren and Tamsin's relationship with bits from Dyson mixed in. Bo, and the rest of the group, do not come in, they are only mentioned throughout, until chapter 10 and up.

 Lauren Lewis groaned as she was being debriefed by her friend, she thought he was close enough now to be considered a friend, who just happened to work for the police. She wished the wolf shifter would stop chatting, wished she was out of there and could tune out his incessant stream of words, but she had to stay; had to listen. For the sake of another woman that might die next, she just _had_ to.

“Lauren, you _have_ to do this,” He was saying as he stood opposite her in front of a white board with grisly pictures of murdered women. “We need you in the house we've set aside and try to find out who is killing these women.”

“Dyson, I'm a doctor, not a detective.” Lauren sighed and tried not to pinch the bridge of her nose, or any other physical movement that might attract suspicion of her hesitance, and instead said, “I don't do things like this. The preliminaries show the victim's necks being sliced with a three inch serrated blade; a small chunk missing from the end of it. Can't you just look around the area for someone with that kind of unique knife?”

She didn't want to be there, she really did not want to be there. The busy precinct was abuzz with the recent triple murders, in less than a week, making the murderer a real and proper serial killer, and if there was anything Lauren disliked, it was a crowd of people she felt weak in. It was easy, she thought, feeling weak in a crowd. These were all men and women of authority, their weapons clung tightly to their thigh, their professional shirts and pants, their scared and serious faces parading around the room; it was a madhouse of authority, and Lauren didn't like it one bit.

Dyson had called her into the precinct for her report on the construction of the blade she had made a model of after examining the women's bodies, and then, somehow, she was being asked- more like ordered- into going into the suburban area where the murders took place to investigate. All of the women, or so they could gather from their neighbors and loved ones, that had been murdered were very blonde and very out in their community The killer obviously had it out for people who preferred same-sex relationships, and of course, Lauren thought as she glanced towards the ceiling, blondes. The detective, to ring in the murderer to get in good with his human boss, was sending Lauren into a death trap.

“No, we can't just do that, Lauren,” Dyson said, pulling the doctor out of her own reverie, “we need probable cause. We need something!” The wolf looked back towards his board and pointed a finger aggressively toward the pictures, making sure Lauren could see every one of them in turn; maybe to shock her into cooperating, she didn't know. “These women are just a few in the slue of murders we've tracked this guy across. Eight other women have been slaughtered in the same way, the same neck marks the knife made on the women here, the same scent on all of the bodies!” Dyson could see he was losing the doctor, her eyes turning dim as she watched to detach herself from the females as she had learned to do so long ago, and his blue eyes calmed slightly. “Please, Lauren, we need you to do this. If not for me, at least for the next victim.”

Lauren sighed and said, “Dyson, I don't-”

“Come on, Hotpants. Loosen up, get out into the town for once,” A snarky voice said behind Lauren, making the woman jump despite herself. Looking around, she saw the ever so beautiful Icelandic blonde detective sauntering up from the doorway. Her hair was pushed into a bun as it always was and she wore a tight fitting green tank-top with black slacks. A small chain ran across her neck and laced into a small white pendant that looked beautiful against her fair skin.

“You've got to be getting some type of cabin fever from being cooped up in your apartment all day,” She sighed, her nose scrunching as it always did. Getting to the chair Lauren sat in, Tamsin leaned onto the back of it, her breasts almost falling out of her tank-top into the blonde's face as the human was still looking at the lighter blonde, and her knuckles dug nicely into Lauren's back.

The doctor tried not to blush, no way was she going to let Dyson- if he didn't already know- of the few times the valkyrie and human had met for some... extracurricular activity, and she turned back around to the detective and sighed. “Fine, I'll go,” She said, sighing as she tried not to fidget from Tamsin's knuckles as they hit every spot Lauren loved to be soothed on her back.

“Excellent!” Dyson clapped his hands together slightly and turned. He was about to walk away, probably to tell his boss of an informant he had just indoctrinated into the investigation, when he turned round to Lauren again. She could have sworn he was trying to hide a very wide grin as he said, “Oh, and Tamsin will be your wife on this case.”

Lauren had no time at all to protest, she knew she would have thought of something _really_ good to say, before Dyson sauntered away and she was left alone with a devilishly smiling Tamsin. The valkyrie looked Lauren up and down as she smiled and she scrunched up her nose again before walking away to her desk.

_Just wonderful._

+++

Tamsin held a very sneaky grin as she slapped Lauren's ass as they walked up to the house the light fae had held for them. The aching sun was beating onto them, it raced Lauren's heart, and Tamsin knew it wasn't the only thing racing after she slapped the doctor. The human held back a small yelp, Tamsin saw with a sinful smile, as she wasn't expecting any type of physical attachment from the valkyrie, and she glared back at Tamsin.

“Just keeping up appearances,” The detective said innocently as she shrugged. The luggage she carried didn't seem to weigh her down once soever and Lauren just rolled her eyes as she turned again. Tamsin bit her lip as the doctor turned away, her hair falling into her face again as she tried to lift her bag, and the valkyrie could see small streams of perspiration crawling down Lauren's neck and back as they moved their heavy luggage into the house; she was turned on way too much by the simple movements of the doctor and she had to calm herself down before she did anything... oh so delectable.

Getting into the house made Tamsin cringe as she looked around. The fae had taken care of the furniture, it looked like Martha Stewart had a vomit fest in there Tamsin decided with a dissatisfied look, and all the couple needed to bring was a weeks worth of clothing. The artwork mirrored that of Lauren's, naked women every which way, and Tamsin had to hold back a chuckle from the many times she had banged the human against those same pieces of art back at her place.

Tamsin, who was watching Lauren struggle with carrying both of her bags- what, did she have her freaking lab equipment in there with her- sighed and moved past the human. Taking the heavier of the two bags from the doctor's grip, Tamsin eyed her as Lauren looked up surprised.

“Shouldn't be so surprised, doc. I _can_ be pretty damn nice when the need arises.” Tamsin's voice had rose a few octaves as she tried to sound nonchalant and she wondered if the darker blonde would notice. Instead of wondering, Tamsin carried Lauren's things into the house and dumped them at the foot of the stairs.

She watched as Lauren moved into the house, carrying her remaining bag with both of her hands, and rolled her eyes while she looked up the stairs; wondering if she should take her things or Lauren's up first, she couldn't decide. As she looked at Lauren as she bent down to discard her luggage on the ground, Tamsin saw the doctor's shirt lift up ever so slightly to expose beautiful, sweat beading skin.

_This is going to be a very fun time._

+++

It was the first time they ever had sex after months of pretending they never had any type of interaction before. The first time Lauren had felt the valkyrie's touch and it wasn't under the allusion of trying to get over Bo. It had been the second day they had to share a bed together that it happened, not as though the two women would ever try to stop it.

Lauren had moved too far into Tamsin's space, her back barely arching into Tamsin's chest, and the valkyrie had taken advantage.

Her hand had been propping up her head as they watched TV together, some mindless cop show with two female leads that swore they were both straight but the valkyrie had found the subtext too incredible to ignore, and when Lauren stretched her back, Tamsin let her other hand fall gently onto the human's stomach. They laid like that for a few minutes until Lauren, yet again, moved backward into Tamsin just a little bit more.

Tamsin's eyebrow rose in a silent question as Lauren made it a point to watch the television intently. There was no use in going back to watching the show, and Tamsin brought her nose down onto Lauren's neck slowly, through the blonde's wonderful curls, and nuzzled it as she sent long languid kisses up the human's neck to her ear and back again. She grinned as she heard the doctor's breath hitch and she continued to kiss the woman in the area of her neck Tamsin knew she loved.

She played gently with the blonde's curls as she moved her lips around Lauren's neck, to her chin, to her mouth. Capturing the doctor's lips with her own, Tamsin heard Lauren moan with want, a slightly different moan than she had used all those months ago for the numerous one-night stands they had both shared. Was it really still called one-night stands if they had done it more than eight times?

Regardless, it had been a long time for both of them.

This wasn't like the fucks Tamsin gave to poor folk in the bars she had visited, like she had given Lauren no matter her feelings before. For some reason this human, the woman that could get her to come back again and again, the doctor, captured the softness of the valkyrie and held her there suspended in that small space just before the storm; the eye. Everything was calm, nothing was frantic, Tamsin made everything last.

Their breaths hitched as Tamsin brought Lauren to climax again, her blonde curls clinging to her sweat drenched forehead, her mouth being captured again by the valkyrie's. Tamsin's name was drowned out again by Lauren's moans of ecstasy as the fae began to move her fingers, without giving Lauren any time to come off from her recent orgasm.

Everything was calm.

Nothing was frantic.

Tamsin made everything... last.

+++

It had been the fourth day they had been there, in the small home, by themselves. Dyson checked up on them every day in the morning, mid-day, and evening but that was the only interaction with the outside world other than the very nice, yet vain, neighbors.

Tamsin had just come back from recon of the suburban area and she was tired as hell. Talking nice to people, trying to interrogate them without them knowing, and sneaking through their homes when she asked for a bathroom really wasn't her style as she preferred the in-your-face approach best. But as she came in and saw Lauren in the kitchen cooking for no one else but Tamsin, the valkyrie's tiredness slipped from her like sand from a child's fingers. She would have been lying if she told herself she hadn't been glancing at the small ring that lined her left hand, the finger, when she was out. She liked it there, even made light conversation with quick glances towards the ring when out with the neighbors.

Tamsin really liked it there.

But she knew she couldn't. She was a valkyrie, a maiden of Him, she wasn't supposed to get involved. Her mentor's words echoed in her head over and over again throughout the day, and it was all she had to drown out the words. Besides, Tamsin thought, it wasn't like she really gave a shit about the doctor. No way, it was just for the free screwing, who would care for someone like Lauren Lewis?

 _You do_ , a small voice rang in the back of Tamsin's mind; _you do_.

When she had walked in, Lauren had smiled at her with a glint in her gorgeous brown eyes, and said, “You like pasta right? I didn't know, since you never stayed for dinner,” Lauren's eyes dimmed a smidgen when she thought of their one-night stands and smiled after shaking her head as she looked back towards Tamsin, “and I wanted to make sure to cook you something you liked.”

“You're a great cook, doc,” Tamsin said instead of touching on the moments the doctor was most likely thinking about, “I think I can manage with whatever you make.”

That made Lauren smile even wider as Tamsin sat down at the table, waiting to be served, like a real couple.

_A real goddamn couple._

+++

“Tamsin-” Lauren was cut off as the very harsh, very wicked gleaming dagger, cut into her throat. The man they were after, the killer, was holding her from behind, the knife biting into the doctor's strong neck.

Tamsin was sweating. She couldn't use her abilities. Not with Lauren standing in front of the man, and even if she wasn't, her abilities wouldn't promise them a swift capture of the murderer. If Dyson was late, Tamsin would be knocked out and wouldn't be able to protect Lauren yet again. They'd both be dead and it was all because Tamsin was too old, was too dumb, to even think about what she was doing. Her valkyrie powers were strong, but she had no directionality anyways, she couldn't make just the killer experience her doubt, for it would reach Lauren first and Tamsin had no idea if she had it in her for a prolonged exposure.

But still, she had to do something.

_You're not good at this shit. You're going to get her killed._

Tamsin shook her head, expelling the thought, and tried to talk. “Hey buddie, just let her go. She's not going to hurt you, no one's going to hurt you here, alright?” Her voice was too high pitched, too shaky, it was even foreign to her own ears, there was no way an insane person like the man standing opposite her would fall for what she was saying.

“Heathens. We're all heathens. Thou shalt not lie with a man as thou lies with a woman. Thou shalt keep thyself pure.”

Yeah, yeah, Tamsin thought, whatever. “The woman,” She said instead, “that woman in your arms,” Tamsin tried to get through to the man that was obviously brutalized as a child, “she's the purest person you will ever meet in your life. Just let her go, man. Let her go.” Chipper, Tamsin decided, her voice sounded psychotically chipper. It held none of her snark, none of her defensive mechanisms, it only held that stupid chipper and decisive tone.

She had brought her gun down to her side as she spoke, her palm facing the man as she tried to calm him. Tamsin tried to channel the times she had witnessed Lauren talking to a scared suspect, even Dyson as he tried to keep people calm, and wondered why she had never taken that mandatory class on the subject. If she had, Tamsin thought, it would help her now.

Because right in that moment, it wasn't working.

The man was getting more agitated and Lauren's breath hitched again. The man was almost choking her with the knife. If she breathed too harshly, if she dared to move just a fraction of an inch, the knife would rip into her neck; if she breathed at all, she'd die.

“Please,” Tamsin pleaded, “please just let her go.”

“Heathens. Heathens!” The man was getting hysteric as every word he said he would lift Lauren to the tips of her toes with just the force of the knife.

The pained expression, the fear in Lauren's eyes made something snap in Tamsin. Something so primal, even more primal than her own abilities, and she brought her gun up to aim at the man's head.

“Let. Her. Go,” Tamsin breathed, her breath coming in sporadic huffs as she glared into the man's brown eyes.

It was the wrong choice.

The man screamed, he screamed bloody murder, as he moved the knife from Lauren's neck. Tamsin thought it was over, she would get Lauren, get out, and everything would be fine.

How wrong she was.

The man brought it so quickly into Lauren's side, it took a moment for Tamsin to understand the squelching sound at first, for her centuries of battle to kick in on what was happening. It wasn't until Lauren's face contorted with pain as the knife was taken out of her, the man raising it to strike again, when Tamsin finally understood as it clicked in her head.

There was no hesitation, no second thought, Tamsin aimed down her sights and fired off her entire clip, she shot square between his eyes and his chest, until he lay on the ground dead as a doornail.

Tamsin didn't wait, didn't even acknowledge the man falling away from the wounded doctor, when she discarded her gun onto the ground and ran to Lauren, her breath catching as she saw the blood profusely bleeding from the human's side.

“Tam...sin...” Lauren tried to say, a small smile spreading across her lips as the valkyrie bent down quickly and covered her wound with a strong hand. She tried to bring a hand up to touch the valkyrie's face, she didn't realize she had fallen onto her back, but it failed her and instead it laid gently at her side. Tamsin tried to hush her but the blonde continued sarcastically yet passionately, “My... hero...”

_No. No. No. NO._

Tamsin grabbed the side of Lauren's face, tried to see her soul as it faded, tried to grasp that remaining essence and force it back into the doctor's body as she stared intently into her eyes.

“She's good, do you hear me! She's good. She doesn't deserve this. You give her back, give her back to me! I am a maiden of the great Odin, I am a shieldmother to the Sisters of Death himself, you _will_ obey my command and give her back!” The order was not of anything of this world, not of anything Tamsin would have ever thought to order from the primal forces of the universe, but for some stupid and strange reason, she was risking herself for the woman.

Tamsin looked toward the ceiling, her face turning into that of a skeleton, her eyes sinking into their sockets and cracks appear next to her darkened mouth. The room went dark as she called upon the forces of death, destruction, and discord. The forces that were taking her Lauren away from her.

If she had a mind left in that instant, she would make some snippy remark on how she thought the blonde woman bleeding below her was hers.

It didn't' matter, nothing would stop her.

Even if she gave her life, her own essence, for the doctor's, nothing on the earth would stop her.

And just for a moment, for such a small moment as the valkyrie looked down at the human who's eye lids rested lightly in unconsciousness, Tamsin rembered how real serenity felt like. The last week with Lauren, even the minuet times in the human's bed months ago, it was all complete serenity. She wouldn't give that up after spending her entire life thinking she couldn't, she was forbidden, to have something so beautiful.

She wouldn't.

But it wasn't really her choice; was it?


	2. Hopelessness

_Get her to a doctor._

What doctor, she is the doctor.

_You have to get out of here and get her to a doctor._

I can't move my legs.

_If you don't move, she'll die._

She'll die.

_Get up._

She's already dead.

_Stop it._

Dead.

+++

“Dyson! Get your furry ass up because I need you,” Tamsin called into her phone immediately after she heard it pick up.

“Tamsin, what's going on?” The wolf asked groggily and Tamsin realized, with a flick of her green eyes towards the dashboard clock, it was way past midnight and into the wee hours of the morning. Dyson must have gone to sleep early, resting calmly after putting his best people on the case. The case that had gotten Lauren badly wounded.

“There's blood, there's blood everywhere.” Tamsin's warrior persona dropped in that instant as her mind reeled at the thought of losing the one person she actually connected with in her long life. She was acting like a sniveling child, but she couldn't think of anything else but the human stretched across the back of her truck seat. “I can't take her to the dark, Dyson, they'll leave her in the street to die. Help me, shit, please help me.” Tamsin was asking for help; Tamsin the Valkyrie was asking for help.

“Get her to the compound,” Dyson said, out of breath as he swiftly got to his feet, presumably looking for a shirt to put on. “And Tamsin-”

Tamsin didn't hear the rest of Dyson's sentence as she threw the phone down onto the ground, her eyes focusing on the road and not the way her truck smelt of metallic blood.

She just kept driving.

+++

“Set her down here,” Dyson called as Tamsin barged into the double paned doors, Lauren in her arms. The valkyrie moved quickly over to the table Dyson had identified, her muscles barely bulged as she carried the human with her superior fae strength, and she set Lauren down gingerly. Looking around, she couldn't see any light fae doctors, and she raised an eyebrow confused.

“Where the hell is the help?”

“I sent them away,” Dyson breathed, making sure not to look into the valkyrie's eyes, and instead down at the severe wound in Lauren's side. Whatever had been done to her was massively deep, and Dyson wondered if they would be able to bring her back from the edge of death.

Tamsin burned with anger and grabbed her partner by the collar, pulling out her hidden blade from her belt as she did. Bringing it up to his throat she screamed, “What do you mean you sent them away? Get them back here, now!”

If Tamsin praised Dyson for anything, it was him staying calm in the face of pure fury. “Tamsin,” He said, “you have to calm down. This isn't helping Lauren, at all. I sent them away because you're still dark fae. If they saw you here, without Hale's orders, Lauren wouldn't wake up to your face. Is that what you want?”

The valkyrie's head cleared, just a fraction as she huffed out an angry breath, and she sheathed her weapon slowly. “We're not doctors.” Her voice was not sad but matter-of-fact, and she watched as Dyson nodded his head.

“I know, but this is the only way I can think of.”

Tamsin looked down at what her partner was talking about and saw a syringe with clear liquid inside. She would have asked what was in it, what her partner was thinking about using the nasty looking syringe on, but before she could, the man raised it above his head and brought it swiftly down onto Lauren's chest. Pushing down the pump, Tamsin almost screaming in his ear at what the hell he thought he was doing, when Lauren's eyes immediately flew open and her body jolted upward.

“Oh-ho-ho,” Lauren shouted, her body falling back onto the bed, as she brought a clawed hand up to brush her fingers across the slight blood from her chest that Dyson had stuck the syringe in. She groaned after a few moments and looked up at Tamsin. Cocking her head to the side slightly she asked confused, “T-Tamsin?”

Just by her own name, the valkyrie almost fainted after it was said from Lauren's lips.

“I'm here, I'm here, Lauren.”

The doctor smiled and said, “You never... use my name. That's new; someone must be dying.” Her eyes drooped and Tamsin immediately began patting her face lightly.

“Lauren, you have to tell us what to do; you need to tell us what to do to fix you!”

“Fix me; I'm the one who's dying?” Lauren's head came up a fraction and she looked down at her wound on her side. “Oh, that, right.” She cleared her throat and Tamsin would have thought under any other circumstance, Lauren under narcotic's influence would be almost laughable. “Are my internal organs nicked in any way? Why do we call them internal organs anyway? Actually, I know why, it's an interesting fact, you see-”

“Yeah, I bet it is, doc,” Tamsin said absently as she went to check the wound. “Dyson, I-I don't know how to check this shit.”

Dyson took hold of Tamsin's shoulder and shook her slightly. “You can _see_ the dead and dying, partner. Focus.”

Right, that was right. If the doctor was dying, if her organs were damaged, Tamsin would be able to see it. Taking a deep breath, the valkyrie looked down at Lauren's body slowly. Instead of giving off a darker, almost black aura of death, she was exuding a light brown one that marked her as almost dead, but not dying. It meant she had no internal damage and it was simply a very nasty flesh wound.

Moving back up to Lauren so she could see her, Tamsin said, “Lauren, Lauren I need you to tell me what to do.”

Lauren groaned and said, “I don't want to be the doctor, I want to go to sleep.”

“Yeah, whatever, I'll let you go to sleep soon, just tell me what to do.”

Lauren sighed and said, “If my organs aren't damaged... you have to... sew me up after cleaning the... wound.” Lauren became groggy as she spoke and it took more time than the valkyrie really wanted to waste.

“Okay, okay we can do that.” Tamsin's green eyes looked around the room frantically and saw a small tray of surgery and cleaning items. “Dyson, get the shit we need.”

It didn't take long and Dyson was back in a few moments with rubbing alcohol, thread, and a needle. Tamsin brought the substance to Lauren's skin, and she felt a surge of nausea as Lauren flinched away from the sting, her eyes were closed and she tightened them after feeling the sensation. Thankfully, she didn't flinch any longer after she was accustomed to Tamsin cleaning the dried, and still slightly streaming, blood from the wound, and she took up the thread and needle. Looking at Dyson with hatred towards herself, she began her work that she learned from centuries of battle.

They hadn't put Lauren under, they didn't' need to, the human was out in seconds of the needle entering her skin; and, as some blessing, she would stay out after Tamsin was groggily pulling the last bit of thread and tightening it around the closed wound. The valkyrie sighed as she let down Lauren's shirt, which Dyson had placed just at the crest of the human's defined upper stomach and her breasts, putting it gently over the rush job on her wound.

Tamsin, who was huffing out long breaths, walked backwards, after standing, her eyes pinned on Lauren's pale face, until she banged into another bed; sliding down to the balls of her feet and then, finally, her ass and legs.

The battle she was fighting internally with herself, and losing ever since she stuck the needle into flesh for the first time that night, took her over and she brought her bloodied hands to her lips; crying into them. She cried long and hard, something she never did in her whole existence, and she did little to push Dyson away as he bent to hold her. When she was done, when she had finally took back control of her own emotions that she had tried to hide from the outside world, she allowed Dyson to continue to rock her there; his right arm hooking across her shoulders. Tamsin knew, like the sickening feeling of a knife twisted in your gut, she knew she had just saved what little life her doctor had left.

Lauren was safe.

Lauren was alive.

Lauren hadn't left Tamsin.

And that meant, oh God that meant, Tamsin was saved from her loneliness.

+++

It had been almost a day before Lauren awoke on her own accord. Her chest ached and the side of her stomach hurt even worse, and she didn't dare to move for fear of opening her wound she could feel on her side. Turning her head to the right, and then to the left without moving her body, Lauren held back a gasp of surprise as she saw none other than Tamsin sitting in a chair deathly close to Lauren's bed. The valkyrie had her head propped against her fist while she slept, and her legs were crossed onto the chair, reminding Lauren of the children's game of Criss Cross Applesauce.

Smiling at her own ludicrous thoughts, the human rested her head against the pillow and she watched as Tamsin's eyes fluttered in REM sleep, and thought the valkyrie beautiful while she slept. Lauren didn't notice when her friend, Dyson, came into the lab carrying two plastic enclosed sandwiches from the small diner a few miles down the road. His smile was one of concern when he saw Lauren awake, and he bent down on the opposite side of the bed from Tamsin, making the human turn her head,, after placing the meals down onto the metal stand.

“They there, doctor. You scared us,” He said lightly, bringing a comforting hand to her shoulder as he looked into her eyes.

“If I remember correctly, you were the one that stabbed me full of morphine.” Lauren's face pulled into a soft smile as she saw the concern in Dyson's eyes. She didn't tell him the morphine could have made her heart go into arrest as pumping morphine into an already beating heart would make the beat erratic, and instead comfortingly said, “It's okay, I'm alive.”

Dyson's eyes softened and she smiled again. She had really scared him, Lauren thought as she looked into his blue eyes, she didn't know how much she had really meant to him until she saw the vulnerability there.

Looking back towards a sleeping Tamsin after making sure Dyson was no longer filled with fear, she realized the valkyrie must have been even more worried about her, and Lauren rested her head back down again. She knew it would take her a few days before she could stand, even more to walk and do mundane tasks, and as she looked at Tamsin's sleeping form, she thought, just for a moment, she could pull through it. A doctor was a control freak, that's what her medschool teacher had told the class, and oh did Lauren agree in that moment when she found she wouldn't be able to do much of anything for the next week or so.

She already knew the danger Tamsin had faced by bringing her to the light fae compound, even with Hale in charge, and her heart sang from the sacrifice the woman had made for her. Lauren also knew she had to have been unconscious for most of the day, and how Tamsin had never left her side from the look of the disheveled valkyrie, and she briefly remembered how Tamsin had saved her life.

Lauren didn't look away from Tamsin as she felt her eyes droop again, and she was pulled into a peaceful sleep with Dyson watching over her. A dream of Tamsin, of the bed they had shared, of the life she had witnessed a peek into while undercover.

Things weren't hopeless, she thought as she dreamed.

For the first time in her life, Lauren felt as if things were looking up.

For the first time in her life; she was hopeful.

 


	3. Uselessness

“Tamsin, it's okay. I can get my own-” Lauren was saying to the valkyrie as the woman brought her yet another cup of coffee. Pushing it into her face, Tamsin took the human's first mug, that was still half full, and walked away again- probably on yet another hunt for something else Lauren could ever want- but she looked back, her eyebrow raised in question.

“What did you say you wanted to eat?”

Instead of groaning from even thinking about the valkyrie's home cooking, Lauren said, “I didn't say I wanted anything to eat, actually. _Tamsin_ , stop for a second.” The human watched as the Icelandic blonde stood in the small space between the room and the stairway, and she said more gently, “While I appreciate all that you're doing, you haven't left this apartment for a week. I need some space.”

“And when your little legs can support you again, I'm out of here faster than a chimera's fire trick.” Tamsin eyed the woman, seeing if she'd say anything else, shrugged when she didn't, and left the bedroom quickly.

It had been a little over a week since Lauren had been discharged from her hospital bed at the light fae compound. Tamsin thought, instead of the human actually needing to go home, it was more of the fact of her unwelcome presence in the facility. The valkyrie had made it _very_ clear to the higher ups that she wouldn't leave Lauren's side, and they had let the doctor off to be placed in her own home, under her own care, with strict instructions of bed rest instead of dealing with the irate valkyrie any longer.

There was so much Hale could take after all.

It was all Lauren had to tell Tamsin the first night they were there that she could wash herself.

“Tamsin, just put me in the shower, and I can do the rest. _Tamsin_ , no,” Lauren had said furiously as the valkyrie had begun to take off her own clothing to accommodate the human's nakedness.

The job on Lauren's stomach was a good one, the doctor had to admit, but it was a rushed one. And because it was done so hastily, the stomach muscles had been harshly damaged in recovery. She couldn't move her right leg properly, and she could barely move her left, hence the reason Tamsin was waiting on her day and night. Lauren sighed and hit her head against the pillow for the umpteenth time that day. She was the one used to helping everyone else, she felt useless in her own home, and she didn't do well with the positions reversed.

Tamsin, though sweet for some strange reason, had been overcompensating for every little thing. If Lauren's bread wasn't toasted just right, the valkyrie would snatch it from her, run down the stairs, and pull out a new loaf just to make it over again until the hesitance of eating washed from Lauren's face.

The human didn't make it a big deal that they had to go through that song and dance over three different times every meal time, and instead would eat whatever Tamsin made for her without hesitance.

If Lauren had spent more than five minutes alone, there Tamsin was coming into the room, looking around for invisible monsters and sitting on the bed next to her as the human read a book; simply looking up and down the woman's body for some sign of injury.

Tamsin was being sweet, but _God_ was she annoying.

Lauren strangely thought how nice it would be for Tamsin to go back to her usual ways! The mean, nasty looks she'd give to any and everyone. The small quips she'd make when being overly sarcastic after being asked a question. The way her nose would scrunch up when she knew she was being sexy while saying something completely inappropriate with a straight tone. God, all that Lauren would do for the old Tamsin to come back for just a few moments, and she had no idea why the strong valkyrie was acting like a house wife all of a sudden. But if she was going to continue on like that, Lauren decided, she'd make the best of it.

When Tamsin came back up with a bowl full of soup, soup Lauren didn't even know she had in the cupboards, the human moved it to the table immediately and grabbed her arm gingerly before she could leave again.

“Tamsin, can we please talk?”

“What, doc?”

“I just- I'm very grateful for everything you've done for me the past few days. But, Tamsin, I need some space. I would like to get into the bathtub without a five minute debate on why you can't get in with me. Or,” Lauren said, her eyes darting from the valkyrie's brilliant green eyes that bore a hole in her, and the more accepting white wall, “get a piece of toast by myself. You aren't exactly... accommodating to that,” The human said, pausing to find the right word. “And I-”

“You fell the other day,” Tamsin cut in with the coldest matter-of-fact voice Lauren had ever heard. The human's eyes widened and Tamsin continued, “You fell two days ago. You didn't think I heard you, you didn't think I knew you were trying to get up by yourself, and you fell right on the floor immediately. I'm not going anywhere until you don't need me anymore.”

The valkyrie's almost transparent green eyes burnt hotly into Lauren's whiskey colored ones and she tried not to shiver. “Do... do you blame yourself? For what happened to me, do you blame yourself? Is that why you're here? Tamsin, where are you going, come back!”

Tamsin had gotten off the bed in a hurry as Lauren spoke, she had broken free of the human's slack grip, and when the doctor called her back she sharply turned. “You need a napkin for your soup,” She said absently, ready to turn again and exit the bedroom.

“No, Tamsin, I don't. Come back and talk to me about this. We _need_ to talk about...”

“Doc, no we really don't. It was just like five months ago, we don't need to change anything in our lives, we can just go back to the way things were; before we went on the assignment.”

Lauren's jaw went slack and she blurted, “No we can't because this isn't about Bo this time!” Tamsin's eyes widened at the crass remark that never passed out of Lauren's lips and she continued, “Yes, Tamsin, this isn't about Bo. We had sex, it happened because we felt something for one another, and it's not going to go away. All those months ago I thought you were ending it with me because it wasn't any fun for you anymore. Well now I know that's a lie. You felt something for me back then too, didn't you? And you just... ran away. ” Lauren's eyes burned with fire and Tamsin wondered where she got it from to continue to speak to her like that. Little meek, weak, and scared Lauren never spoke to anyone like that. Sighing she said, “Can we just talk about it like adults?”

“So now you're calling me a child?” Tamsin asked, her anger not getting the better of her, but it was the only thing she could fall back on when she was cornered like she was now. With Bo or Dyson, or even the barkeep Trick, she could default back to snarky comments and glares, but with Lauren... she just couldn't. So she did what she had left, she became furious.

“What, no! I didn't say that, Tamsin.”

“I think you did, doc. Last time I checked, I was the one who saved you. No one else, me.”

“So that _is_ what this is about!” Lauren's brown eyes flared up with slight victory at having discovered, at least in her mind, what all of Tamsin's actions were about. “You blame yourself for what happened to me.” Tamsin stood still and Lauren continued, “I'm the one who walked into that basement on my own. It was a miracle you found me in time to even try to talk to him. This,” Lauren pointed down to her side, “is not your fault, Tamsin. It's not.”

Tamsin seemed to deflate for a few moments and said, “You can't walk...”

“It'll take a little while but I'll be able to eventually. It's just going to take some time, babe-” Lauren's eyes widened at her own words. She immediately saw Tamsin's guard fly back up again and she cursed herself as she looked down to her fidgeting hands, thinking over what she just said. There was no hope any longer that Tamsin had overlooked the use of the pet-name, the valkyrie had become deathly still.

The pet name hadn't escaped her. Tamsin stood in the small opening of the room and the stairs, her heart seeming to stop. She looked at Lauren with questions in her eyes, did Lauren know of her feelings, was she only guessing, what the hell did the human know, but said, “Can't say that hasn't happened before. I mean, look at me.” She pulled up a smirk and tried to hide her erratic beating heart. Humor, she had to deflect with humor, or her whole facade would break down. She had to get out of the apartment before Lauren said something like-

“You're not hiding, you know.” Lauren looked up into Tamsin's eyes and held them there. “We're the same people, exactly the same, I know you because I am you.”

“You don't know jack shit about me,” Tamsin whispered harshly. Her voice wouldn't rise above those whispered words and she tried to gulp down the lump in her throat. There was no way Lauren could know she was right, that Tamsin and her had lived almost the exact same life; the life of repudiate servitude, of being less because of someone else's boot on your neck. They were both broken women, playing at being normal, trying to live their lives as best they could in the world where they were slaves. But it wasn't enough, no way would Tamsin ever let that be known.

“Okay, I don't,” Lauren reprimanded, “but I want to. What happened in that house, it was different than what happened before, it was amazing, Tamsin. We were beautiful.”

“Shut up.”

“Tamsin.” Lauren sighed as she tried to move just a few inches to the end of the bed.

“Stop talking.”

“Do you want a relationship?”

Tamsin's heartbeat began to pain her chest. Was that question really asked, really pointed at her? The valkyrie that didn't need anyone.

“You saved me. You stood by my side until I got better, you _stayed_ with me, Tamsin, even though you could have been hurt or killed.” Lauren was sounding desperate, her feelings- her true feelings- since Bo Dennis, the woman who left, and she was sharing them with a fucked in the head valkyrie like Tamsin. “Answer me. Is this to get in my pants again, or because you really, truly want a relationship? Someone doesn't do all that you've done because she doesn't have feelings, Tamsin.”

Tamsin's breath hitched in her throat. She felt her palms become clammy and her ears begin to ring. She didn't want to be there. In that one instant, she didn't want to be there.

Looking at the hurt look in Lauren's eyes was one thing, fine. Being in the vicinity of the woman she had allowed to be harmed was another entirely, sure. But that stupid question. That quietly truthful question... she couldn't deal with it. She didn't need anyone, she didn't want anyone, especially not some lowly human like Dr. Lewis. God, what a delusional mind the woman had!

Giving a disgusted sound from the back of her throat, Tamsin quickly pivoted on her heel as she left the room, running down the stairs with a look of shame, confusion, and fear all mixed on her features. She didn't look back as Lauren shouted her name, her footsteps down the stairs became frantically fast with each yell of her name, descending them two and even three at a time. She came quickly to the door, opened it, and bolted out; barely remembering to close it. Forgetting her phone, wallet, shoes, and anything else she had over at the blonde's house for the extended stay she had been there.

Tamsin the strong Valkyrie, the woman who never backed down from a fight, the woman who could handle any situation with anger, sarcasm, and quips, just ran away.


	4. Weakness

Tamsin ran blindly down the dimly lit streets after running out of Lauren's building. She remembered her truck was parked right outside of the apartment complex, but at that moment, she didn't' really care because that would mean she had to go back inside, face Lauren again, just to retrieve her keys. So instead, she decided she needed to run, needed to get the energy out before it destroyed her. Tamsin knew if she didn't, something... bad would happen.

Instead of caring of her already aching feet, Tamsin simply listened to the slaps her flesh made with the concrete, her breath, her blood as it raced in her ears, of how her lungs seemed as if they were going to burst. She just had to run.

The valkyrie didn't stop running until she came to another apartment complex, a more industrialized and old one, and ran to the caged elevator. Pulling down the grate quickly, Tamsin punched the second floor number and paced the small boxed area. She could barely feel her feet seeming to blister and burn, maybe even bleed, from the repeated abuse over the course of the hour or two- Tamsin had no idea how long it had taken her to get there- but she shut it down as she paced, the back of her hand pressing against her lips every so often to try to calm her.

Finally dinging as it came to the floor, the valkyrie raised the grate of the door a little too hard, and it banged into the ceiling area with a crunch. Tamsin didn't have time to wonder if she had broken the elevator, and instead ran down the hallway until she came to the door she needed.

Her partner, Dyson, opened the door almost immediately to her frantic knocking. “Tamsin,” He said, looking down at her sweating and disheveled appearance, “what happened to you?”

“Hit me,” Tamsin huffed out, motioning her hands to her body. Her throat itched with want for liquid, and she heard her voice was scratchy from the overuse.

Dyson raised a hand, shaking his head, and was about to go back inside after saying, “What?” when Tamsin held open the door; his head turning back towards her.

“Fine, then I'll hit you.” Tamsin's right fist hooked across Dyson's face and the wolf stumbled back into his apartment. The valkyrie closed the door swiftly and turned back toward her partner. He was shaking his head and looking daggers at her, no doubt replaying one of their very first meetings at the ring.

“Tams-” The valkyrie interrupted him as she brought a strong kick into the side of his stomach, making sure to use her lower leg instead of her ankle to not damage her foot even more, making him stumble to the left before correcting himself.

Dyson's face hardened, his eyes turning golden yellow while the whites blacked out for a moment, and he let out a wild left hook. Dodging easily, Tamsin ducked and brought a hard punch into his stomach, making him cough and sputter a little, and then another across his face. There was no doubt about Tamsin being a warrior, all of her movements were languid and fast, it wasn't about brute force when she was fighting hand to hand, it was about how many hits she could land on her opponent in the shortest amount of time to the more vulnerable areas.

Too bad Dyson, who was way too large of an opponent to beat if he got hold of her, wouldn't have it any longer. As Tamsin let another right hook fly, Dyson caught it easily, and pulled hard. Tamsin, who wasn't prepared for this, stumbled forward, and the wolf headbutted her, catching her on her left temple. Swearing loudly, Tamsin used the momentum to pull her still entrapped hand- along with Dyson- into a very hard forward kick. Her bare heel stuck nicely into Dyson's flesh and she smiled wickedly.

“Enough!” Dyson yelled, snapping Tamsin's hand, which he still held on to, backward, almost breaking it. The valkyrie, despite herself, let out a cry of pain and was brought to her knees as he kicked out her legs from under her. She looked up, as her knees hit the ground hard, into piercing blue eyes and she wanted to scream, wanted to tell him off with a stream of curses, something, anything, to expel her fury.

His face was bloody from the repeated punches she had sent his way and he was curling to one side too much from her heel wound. Tamsin wondered if she looked as bad as he did and suddenly realized the wolf was shirtless. Not that she cared, why the hell would she, it was simply strange to see her partner's body.

“I'm going to let you go now, and if you try to hit me again, I will break this hand. You want to start over?” Dyson asked, dangling his hand that held hers in front of her. Tamsin looked back up to him and waited a beat before nodding solemnly. “Good,” The wolf said, releasing her immediately and turning. He was a cocky son of a bitch to think she wouldn't attack someone from behind.

Or he just knew how honorable valkyries were. Tamsin snorted at the thought. _Some valkyries._

Walking over to his make-shift kitchen, he held out a pot of black liquid to her. “Coffee?”

“It's night, I don't even want to know how long that's been sitting out,” Tamsin said, looking toward the column standing in the middle of the room. “What do you got that's stronger?”

“Scotch it is.” Dyson brought over two glasses to the pillar Tamsin leaned upon, and the partners clinked them together without another word. Downing it in a heartbeat, Tamsin took the bottle from Dyson and poured another glass full. “It's about the case, isn't it?” Dyson asked, watching as Tamsin refilled, downed, and refilled her glass again.

Tamsin eyed him warily and sighed into her drink, barely leaving any liquid remaining in the large glass. Looking down and fidgeting with it through her long fingers, she began to tell Dyson the entire story; everything she kept _out_ of the official report. She told him about the second day of sharing the same bed, even about the few months prior when Lauren and her had a little fun with each other. She told him of what had happened in the basement, how Tamsin had lost it when she thought Lauren was gone forever. Of how, after getting back from the case, that she had been over at the doctor's place helping her in every possible way, without going home herself.

Not that she had a home, she thought to herself as she worked her fingers against the slight condensation around the glass, but Dyson didn't have to know that part.

She finally told her partner of how Lauren had asked her if she wanted a relationship. A real, honest to God relationship. How she had cringed away from it like it was molten gold that was being poured over her entire body.

“She said it was beautiful; that we were beautiful,” Tamsin said finally, as she took a swig from her glass. “Who the hell can argue with someone who says something so cheesy?”

Dyson, who had hung on every word his partner said, sighed and brought a hand to his scruffy chin. Scratching it thoughtfully he asked, “ _Do_ you want a relationship?”

“Not you too,” Tamsin groaned, draping her arm across her propped leg, her wrist just at her knee as she barely held the glass.

“Hey, I'm just asking the hard questions.” He chuckled, raising his hands in the air submissively, but became serious, “What are you going to do, Tamsin? You can't just leave her out in the cold like that, especially right now since she needs someone to help her get food, clothing, and bathed. Bo did it and look where it got her.”

Tamsin eyed the wolf deathly. “I'm not the succubitch.”

“Fine,” Dyson said, his jaw tightening at the insult to Bo, “but you need to tell Lauren how you feel. She deserves that much.” His voice held something, almost secret, as he said the words and Tamsin wondered what it could possibly be pertaining to. Was he thinking of how he still hadn't told the succubus about his own feelings, after he had gotten them back, or was it something more?

Shaking her head, Tamsin thought it over slowly, excruciatingly slowly, and said finally, “No. No, I'm not going to. I don't need anybody. She doesn't own me, and I don't owe her anything.” Tamsin, instead of looking into Dyson's hurt and shameful gaze, blurted, “I'm going to the Dal.” She tried to get up, but found she did so too quickly, and wasn't surprised when she stumbled back into the post. Her back hit it hard and she knew she was too drunk to really function appropriately.

Dyson saw too. Putting a hand to steady her, he said, “You don't need to go there. Tamsin, stay here and rest for the night. Tomorrow you can go to Lauren, get your shoes and your keys, and-”

“No!” Tamsin broke out of his grip and stumbled to the door, “She doesn't rule me, wolf. I will not let her rule me or my...” _Heart._

What heart, Tamsin thought instead of speaking, and she opened then closed the door to Dyson's apartment without any resistance from her partner.

She was a valkyrie, a maiden of Him, she didn't _need_ anybody. Wasn't that what her mentor had told her so long ago? To never get attached to anyone or anything on the earthen plane. Her words still echoed in Tamsin's mind and she tried to drown them out as she walked slowly towards the Dal Riata.

She didn't need anyone. She didn't _want_ to need anybody.

Tamsin drunkenly stepped out into the cold of the night and made her way to the Dal with little problem, other than multiple humans looking at her as if she was a homeless person as her clothes were disheveled and she had no shoes.

Walking into the neutral fae bar, she eyed Trick and asked for a beer immediately upon arrival. He complied curtly, either not interested in her stumbling problem, or just not seeing it, and opened a bottle of whiskey as she walked into the bar.

She took a long drink, her liquid form diet getting the better of her, and she finally looked around. The bar, which was usually filled with all sorts of fae but minimally, was full swing as the night waned. The vampires, and other prominent nocturnal creatures were dancing slowly to the music as they talked to one another with smiles on their faces. Tamsin wanted to wipe all of them off along with the emotion of happiness, but instead her eyes rested on a tall and luxurious vampire after scanning the bar over, and she realized that the sandy brown haired fae had also scouted her out. Nodding her head towards the small room Trick kept to the side of the bar, that held the beer kegs and extra supplies in which he never went into, the vampire immediately complied and peeled himself from the far wall.

The interaction was quick and lacking any type of sensuality. The vampire whipped his member out quickly and entered Tamsin without a word from either party. There was no need for protection as there weren't many fae that proved to be compatible with a valkyrie of her standard. They had kissed, but only once, and when he was banging her into the wall with his thrusts, there was little huffing on her part.

Tamsin didn't know what she was doing. She didn't want to be grinding against this man. She wanted to be in Lauren Lewis' arms. In her bed, wrapping her strong arms around the human's frail body, kissing her strong neck and chin. She wanted her hands tangling into Tamsin's hair as it escaped it's bun.

But she wasn't there, she was here, fucking some random stranger that didn't understand the concept of a clit. Tamsin wanted to roll her eyes, but instead just kept the rhythmic huff so the vampire could feel good about himself.

What was she going to tell Lauren? When was she going to _see_ Lauren again?

Her mind was so frantic as it roiled with the thought, Tamsin was really fighting with herself over the possibility of Lauren this or Lauren that, she barely noticed when the vampire was done and was pulling back up his pants. Thanking her for her participation, _disgusting_ , he walked out of the small room with a smile on his face and his junk happy.

Tamsin pulled back up her own undergarments slowly, and she walked towards the table Trick kept in the room for secret visits between him and a close ally, or so Tamsin thought. Sitting in the chair, she put her head in her hands and started to do, for the second time that month, something she never would have dreamed of, that had just started up in fact, in her life.

She started to weep.


	5. Selfishness

 Lauren hadn't seen Tamsin in almost two weeks. The muscles in her side healed slowly, but strong, and after Tamsin had left her alone in her home, she began using them again, even if she needed help from the inanimate objects around her house. But still, two weeks and nothing from the woman, she hadn't even been by to pick up her belongings, Lauren thought bitterly as she noticed the habit she had picked up after going down the stairs and counting the perfectly ordered accessories.

So when Lauren had tried to call, and even texted, Tamsin with no reply from the latter, she decided to try to take a cab over to the Icelandic blonde's apartment she had told her of one evening; which resulted in disaster. The valkyrie was either out or she had simply ignored Lauren's soft rapping, and the human had left after five minutes of standing awkwardly outside of the vanilla door, she would have stayed longer but her side started to burn from standing for too long. Lauren ceased any interaction, or trying as the case may be, to get the valkyrie's attention. The human had no idea the apartment that Tamsin had given her the address of was her halfway house, and she only visited it on some occasion, not being able to pay rent herself and all. But in that specific time, she had been there.

The woman's avoidance of Lauren had gotten so bad that her truck had sat outside of doctor's building for five days because Tamsin had left the keys with her, and she was obviously being stubborn and refusing to meet the human anywhere.

Finally giving in, and being the bigger person, Lauren had taken a cab to the precinct to find Dyson. _Shockingly_ , he was alone and Lauren placed Tamsin's wallet, truck keys, and her phone in his outstretched hand. She wanted to ask him if Tamsin was in the building, she still needed to pick up her shoes, but instead she pivoted on her heel and walked out. She knew Tamsin was probably hiding in the interview room, the shades were drawn and she saw the blinds moving out of the corner of her eye when she had been talking to Dyson, and as she walked out of the precinct, she had told herself she didn't care.

If Tamsin wanted to avoid her, fine, let her avoid her. The human wouldn't stop the “all powerful” valkyrie from something she didn't want to do. Yeah right, Lauren thought bitterly as she had taken the same cab back to her apartment, she is as all powerful as a cell nucleus without it's genetic material of linear DNA molecules is.

Lauren's heart suddenly lept to her throat as she walked outside; after leaving her building to catch a cab to the compound in the middle of the first week of avoidance, she saw Tamsin's truck had disappeared after her visit to Dyson to return her belongings. She must have come in the night when, Lauren was safely inside, to retrieve her truck and drive away and, for some reason, that made Lauren's heart ache even more.

She had drowned herself in work leading into the second week of avoidance and, as a somewhat celebration for finding the right compound to cure a sick fairy child, she went to the Dal to buy herself a beer and relax to the soft melodies. She knew Tamsin wouldn't be there, which was the only reason she decided to go to the fae bar instead of a human owned one, as it seemed every time the doctor went anywhere there was never a chance of seeing Tamsin.

However, that night, Lauren was horribly wrong.

Walking into the Dal with a smile on her face, she ordered a beer as she sat at the bar, and looked around. Only to have that same half smile rush from her lips as she saw Tamsin and Dyson in the corner by the pool tables. Tamsin hadn't seen her yet, she was facing away from the bar, but Dyson did. His eyebrow raised slightly in question, asking Lauren if she wanted to come over and talk to either him or the valkyrie opposing him, but he looked back at Tamsin quickly so the Icelandic blonde wouldn't get interested in what he was looking at. Lauren slightly thought Tamsin would be eager to see a pretty thing that could catch Dyson's eye, but she quickly shut the thought down before it manifested into something larger.

Swiveling around in her seat instead, Lauren gulped down half of her beer without a second breath or word. Trick watched her cautiously, but said nothing as he continued to clean glasses from that night.

What was she going to do? Should she confront Tamsin? No way, she couldn't do that, the woman would figuratively eat her alive; no, she would _literally_ eat her whole, Lauren thought. But no, she _had_ to say something to the woman, she wouldn't ignore her like Tamsin liked to do like a prepubescent child. She would be grown, the bigger person, steal herself and walk over for a nice adult chat with the valkyrie. Yeah, she could do that, she could totally do that.

_Maybe one more drink._

After downing the entire bottle Trick had left beside her, Lauren got up and smoothed her hands over her tight fitting professional clothes, and walked over to the two detectives. She wondered briefly as she walked if the valkyrie would notice her white blouse, a black jacket thrown over her shoulders, and her very form fitting dress pants. Lauren looked good, she _knew_ she looked good, and for a brief moment she really thought and hoped that Tamsin would notice.

“Lauren,” Dyson said kindly, looking up at her as she approached as he nodded.

Tamsin didn't even turn, Lauren noticed and she tried to hold back her sudden temper. Instead, Lauren said, “Hello, Dyson. Tamsin.”

The valkyrie said nothing, she just kept looking down at the preliminaries for a young teenager with bristles and spikes coming from the mouth and along the torso. Lauren would have been interested if not for the sudden urge to turn Tamsin's head herself, forgetting about the small burn she still felt when exerting too much force, and making the resentful valkyrie look at her.

Dyson looked between the two women, one standing and looking sheepishly towards the sitting valkyrie, her own green eyes closing in a silent exertion of will power to not turn and look up towards the human, and he smiled down into his lap as he scrunched up his face. Picking up his beer he said, “I'm just gonna give you two some time.” A wicked smile turned toward his partner, Dyson ignored one of the valkyrie's dirtiest looks and sauntered over to the bar with the file Tamsin had just been looking over.

For all of Dyson's abilities, he really was an honorable man, Lauren thought as she watched him get up from his seat.

“Thank you,” She said, turning as she watched Dyson head to the bar and begin a conversation with Trick after opening the file. She wondered briefly if Bo or Kenzi would join him, as they usually worked cases together, but the more pressing situation kept her from thinking about it too much. Sitting in the now vacant seat, Lauren looked at the Icelandic blonde, who was still refusing to acknowledge her presence, and instead cleared her throat. After a few moments of neither party speaking, Lauren became fed up and said, “Tamsin, are you going to sit there like you don't see me?”

The valkyrie's piercing green eyes made direct contact with the human's soft brown ones and she said, “What do you want, doc?”

So we're back on a no name basis, Lauren thought sadly as she refused to break the deadlock that Tamsin was trying to win.

“I just wanted to talk to you, seeing as you're making it pretty hard to do that. I had to take your belongings to your partner, Tamsin. If that's not the best avoidance technique, I don't know what is.” She tried to smile but the valkyrie's behavior quickly wiped it from her lips.

Tamsin leaned back in her chair, disinterest spreading across her features, and she spread her arms as if she were motioning Lauren into a hug and said, “The floor is yours,” before crossing them slightly over her stomach.

“I, um, I wanted to talk to you about what happened two weeks ago. At my place,” Lauren clarified as if Tamsin wouldn't know or understand what she was talking about. “I'm... sorry that I called you- well I'm sorry that happened.” Lauren's fingers flitted across her ear as she tucked in a stray hair, trying to buy some time before she had to continue. “I don't want to push you into anything you don't want to be in. But, I just assumed after... that night when we were on the case- I mean, I'm not going to be hurt again.”

Lauren stopped and flicked another stray hair out of her face. She wasn't making any sense and she doubted Tamsin would give her the time of day again if she didn't get what she needed to say out and in the open. In her mind, the only reason Tamsin was avoiding her was because she was fearful of becoming a couple, then Lauren the frail Human getting hurt under her charge again. That could only be the logical reason for her actions.

Looking up at Tamsin, she tried to continue, and she bent forward, placing a hand on the valkyrie's propped leg. “I just want to know if we can have some type of a chance tog-”

“I slept with someone else,” Tamsin interrupted harshly, her eyes piercing even further into Lauren's soul as she ground out the words.

The human pulled her hand back, placing it in her lap as it balled into a soft fist, and she said, “Wh-what?”

“When I left that night, I came here and slept with someone else.” Tamsin leaned in closely, her index and thumb pressed together as if she was presenting something to an enthralled classroom. “We rolled around on the floor, we got dirty, and it was fucking great.”

“Well,” Lauren took a deep breath, looking down to Tamsin's pinched fingers to collect herself, and she looked up as she continued, “do you feel better now?”

“What are you talking about?” The valkyrie looked almost dumbstruck, Lauren thought, if the human could think of anything else in that moment.

“I'm asking you if you feel better now.” Lauren smiled humorlessly and said, “You got it off your chest, didn't you? So, do you feel good about yourself?”

“I'm telling you I-”

“I know what you're telling me, Tamsin.” Lauren's head bobbed up and down slowly as she nodded, thinking it over in her mind the conversation that had just played, and she looked up. Her face scrunched as she always saw Tamsin do, mimicking her perfectly enough to make the valkyrie's breath escape her for a moment and said, “I know exactly what you're telling me. And I know you're not telling me for _my_ benefit; it's for yours. Because you wouldn't need to tell me something so... horrible if it was for _me_.”

Lauren's whiskey colored eyes pierced the valkyrie and she shrugged her shoulders. “It's okay, Tamsin. I completely understand, and you know, it's alright. Excuse me, I have to go now.” Lauren got up suddenly, flinging her arm away from Tamsin's outstretched hand as the valkyrie tried to stop her from passing by.

Lauren didn't see Tamsin's face contort into one of pain as she watched the blonde doctor leave the bar sidelong, watching silently out of the corner of her eye as she tried to get her breathing under control.

Lauren didn't see as Dyson came over to the valkyrie's side and put a comforting hand on her back, trying to reassure her as he had been listening in as a silent witness to their entire conversation.

Lauren didn't see Tamsin brush him off furiously as she put her head in her hands, her feet slapping the ground harshly as her elbow rested on her knees.

Lauren didn't see as Tamsin tried her damned hardest to try to brush it off, the guilt and pain she felt like a vice in her heart, like nothing had happened between the person she cared for, but was too afraid to admit it.

Lauren saw none of it.

She just left.

 


	6. Obsessivness

“Are you really going to stay in the car while I-”

“Does it look like I'm going to be moving anytime soon?” Tamsin cut in, glaring over to her partner as he opened his door. Her leg was propped onto the dash and she was tapping her foot agitatedly against it for the entire ride over. When her partner had asked her the question, she had snapped.

“Fine, stay here and mope. You're only getting back what you gave out.” Dyson shrugged and stood erect.

“So the horny cop magically turned into Buddha; aren't I such a lucky gal,” Her last comment was drowned out by Dyson slamming his door shut and smiling in through the window. That didn't stop his partner from flipping him off however, and he got the message loud and clear. Tamsin's piercing green eyes followed her goody two shoes partner as he walked up the stone steps to an apartment complex, wondering the whole time what would go down inside.

Walking into the building Dyson had parked out front of, he sauntered down the long hallway with ease and came to the door he needed. Knocking curtly, the wolf shifter waited patiently for the door to be opened for him, he wasn't in the habit of just walking into places unannounced, and he couldn't help but overhear the rolling of a chair, faint whispering; mostly asking who could be at the apartment so early in the afternoon, and finally the door opened revealing a very nicely dressed Dr. Lewis.

The woman wore a blue shirt that cut down into a V neck, a white shirt underneath so her valuables wouldn't be hanging out, that hugged all the curves on her body, and her black pants went nicely with the heels she wore. If Dyson had been more into fashion, instead of his love for vests, he would have given her a second glance for other purposes than to see how well the human had been doing.

“Dyson,” Lauren said, almost out of breath as if she wasn't expecting him over- which she hadn't-, issuing an invitation with a wave of her hand for him to come inside.

The detective bowed his head in response and walked into the establishment. He usually didn't make it a habit of coming to Lauren's apartment, which was why the woman was so surprised to see him, but thanks to his partner, they just _happened_ to be in the area. Dyson shook his head at the decision to do his partner's dirty work yet again, but turned and looked at the doctor with a whimsical smile on his lips. She looked good, he noticed, nothing like she did three weeks prior at the Dal when Tamsin had-

_Okay, not going there._

“Can you sign off on these? I, uh, need them for the precinct. The human doctors won't hand over the body unless I already have a signature.”

“Yes, of course,” Lauren said, coming over quickly and taking the files from Dyson's outstretched hand. She brought them to her research desk, which did not have a seat, and opened the file. Bending down a ways so she could read the preliminary accurately, Dyson heard the human whispering to herself words like 'laceration to the... right that would do it... maybe if it was... ah, yes...' before Lauren picked up a pen and signed off quickly.

“This looks like a case related to the one you read a preliminary on three weeks ago,” Lauren said calmly as she continued to sign the documents. When the wolf shrugged, safely discouraging Lauren's inquiry, she went onto say with a humorless smile on her lips, “You know you didn't have to come all this way to deliver these, Dyson. I could have come to the precinct or the Dal.”

“What can I say, I was in the area.” Dyson smiled as he shrugged again when Lauren looked up through her fallen strands of hair, doubt and conviction in her eyes. Of course she didn't believe him, there was a lot of things Lauren was, but none of them stupid. She knew her apartment was a little out of reach from most of the other areas they usually frequented, though Dyson would easily swoop and pick her up on the way to the Dal, than it was to simply go to the compound from her establishment.

“Okay, here it is.” Lauren dotted the last signature, closed the file, and brought it over to Dyson. “Anything else?” The question was innocent, but the tone behind it was almost a dare. Tamsin really had rubbed off on her and she probably didn't even know it, Dyson thought as he raised a hand and moved it through the air nonchalantly.

“No, that's all I needed.” Dyson took the file and bowed his head a little before exiting the apartment without a second glance back towards the doctor. He could almost feel Lauren's gaze on him the entire time, daring him a second time to try to bring something up that would cause her to become uncomfortable and threaten him calmly with a nasty fae virus. He rolled his eyes as he walked down the hallway, hoping Tamsin wouldn't ask him what had happened in the human's apartment.

+++

Walking back to his car, Dyson opened the door and threw the file in before getting in himself. His partner didn't even care that the file slapped her in the thigh, she simply stared at the wolf expectantly as he started the car and put it in gear.

“Well?” She asked as they pulled out of the apartment complex's lot.

“Well what?”

“Did she ask about me or what!”

Dyson looked over to his partner, looked down with a sigh, and shook his head. “No, Tamsin. She didn't say a word about you.”

“Why the hell not?”

“With that mouth I'm surprised she ever gave you two seconds in her presence.” His partner looked over to him, death and hurt in her eyes, and he reprimanded himself, “Okay, that was shitty of me to say.” He sighed and looked over while he drove. “Why are you so upset, Tamsin? It's not like you haven't been practically stalking her, sitting outside her complex, making sure she was safe when she helped Bo or I in an investigation.” The wolf shook his head and placed his elbow on the sill of the door and his hand on his forehead. “You're the one that avoided her for almost two weeks, and now that she's doing the same to you, what, you're upset?”

“Fuck you,” Tamsin said, looking out her window, her fist propped on the side of her head as her elbow sat atop the sill. Her foot was tapping even more agitatedly on the dashboard as they drove silently, and Dyson knew there was no use to push the valkyrie further.

The city passed by them in a blur, cars, horn blares, and pedestrians completely escaped her as Tamsin looked out her window without seeing. Her mind was still on Lauren, of how she had treated the human over three weeks ago. How she had lied about her encounter with the random vampire, had said it was sweet to hurt the doctor, to add that punch she needed to make Lauren leave her alone, but it was too much. Tamsin wanted to go back to that time, to try to talk like Lauren had wanted of her, and to apologize for saying such horrible things. But that time was gone and now it was three weeks later.

No text, no call, not even another random visit- Tamsin remembered when Lauren had visited her after she was healed, how the valkyrie heard the human knocking softly onto her door, but because she was stupid and was only in the small apartment to retrieve a few weapons she would need on a hunt the Morrigan had ordered her to do, she hadn't answered-, there was nothing from the human any longer.

Just silence.

And it killed Tamsin, the vice on her heart squeezing even tighter than before; it really killed her.

They were almost to the station when she was brought out of her reverie, noticing her surroundings, and she said, “It bugs me, that's all.”

Dyson looked sidelong at his partner and asked simply, “Why?”

“Because... because I'm acting differently and she's the reason why. My mentor told me to never get attached to anyone on this plane, and yet a stupid human now has my affection. It pisses me off!” Tamsin brought up her foot and slammed it into the dashboard with fury. “I'm running around like Paris when he stole lady Helen from Sparta. I confront the problems, the issue, and I don't take shit from anybody. But when I get around her, it's like my head grows fuzzy, I turn into a whimpering child, I want to do anything she wants of me just to have her look at me for a few minutes, and it's all because of her! It pisses me off, it just pisses me off.”

Dyson watched as his partner shook her head and put her hand on her forehead, brushing back strands of hair that had come undone from her bun. The valkyrie really was having a mid-life crisis and Dyson didn't know what he could really do to help her.

“I can't deflect her like I can with you or the happy little gang,” Tamsin said, her voice rising an octave as she talked about the group. “She gets too far in.”

“Maybe that's a good thing,” Dyson said, his blue eyes trying to find green.

“That's never a good thing, wolf.”

Dyson sighed and said, “Alright, then what I really want to say I know you don't want to hear right now.”

They were finally pulling into the precinct when Tamsin looked over towards him. “Then don't say it.”

“But that's what this little emotion called love is. You change for the person you care about and I think you're going through a lot of changes.”

Tamsin looked over as they pulled into the parking spot, her green eyes dimming with her fury, and she placed a hand on Dyson's arm when he took the key out of the ignition; making sure he didn't move out of the car just yet.

“What if I don't want to change,” She whispered, her eyes glued to her partner's arm.

“Then you bury your feelings and you try to move on. Whenever you see her again, you try not to get that choking feeling at the back of your throat, that tightening feeling in your gut. You carry on, you get through the day, and that's all any of us can do.” Dyson looked over and glanced into Tamsin's eyes, “But I don't recommend it.”

+++

Lauren had gotten back to her work quickly enough after Dyson had left her apartment. It was a surprise for him to knock on her door that afternoon, an even bigger surprise he _actually_ had something for her. It was common for Dyson, in the past three weeks anyways, to randomly show up at her apartment, call her and ask her down to the Dal even, maybe the precinct sometimes, and she had simply accepted that he was trying to help his partner. Lauren didn't see anything wrong with it, Dyson was a loyal man, but it was irksome and tiring to keep up the charade as if she was too ignorant to see through the wolf's actions and that he was, indeed, just checking up on Lauren because his partner was too chicken to do so.

She had made it a point of avoiding Tamsin, as the valkyrie had done to her for two weeks, for an increased time of three long weeks and she wasn't about to give up her resolve no matter how many times Dyson visited with sudden reports he just happened to need her signature on. (At that time she had no idea the valkyrie was watching her apartment, and her, as she left to whichever disclosed location.)

Lauren didn't care to see Tamsin after her hearth-throbbing meeting with her at the Dal, and she wasn't going to tell Dyson that either; not that the wolf didn't already know, Lauren thought as she rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her forehead. Tamsin had told her something so horrible, so heart wrenching, she could barely control her actions. It had taken all she had just to walk out of the bar without trembling. When she had gotten out of the prying eyes of the fae and other humans on the street, only then did she allow herself to slowly crumble, crying onto the floor as she reached the safe walls of her apartment.

Since then, she had made it a point to keep away from Tamsin and her poisonous atmosphere, whatever her feelings for the valkyrie. Lauren chastised herself every day after that meeting, knowing she shouldn't have given into Tamsin that quickly, knowing she should have gotten away and never slept with the woman, never let her emotions get the better of her on the case and the days after. But damn it if the sex wasn't too good.

Lauren slowly started to think of how Tamsin had saved her, how she had risked her life by staying by Lauren's side the entire time it took her to recover, and knew if it wasn't for the valkyrie, Lauren would be dead now.

How could the human forget something so special? Even with all of the ways Tamsin had found to break her.

Lauren was jerked out of her thoughts when her phone started to vibrate and ring. Breathing slowly, a half smile on her lips as she had been so deep in her thoughts the phone had scared her, and picked it up. Breathing a sigh of relief when she saw Dyson's name pop up on her caller ID, she pressed the 'Talk' button and put it to her ear.

“Yes, Dyson?”

“I'm sorry to call you so late,” Dyson said, and Lauren looked over to her computer clock and wondered why the detective said as much as it was only hitting five in the afternoon, “but I need you to come to the precinct.”

“Is something wrong?” Lauren had been barely listening before but immediately perked up when she heard of a problem. She was the queen of fixing problems, that hadn't anything to do with her own life, and she needed the distraction.

“The file you signed, I need those signatures again. Something's gone wrong in customs and they're not taking it. It'd be great if you could physically be here to talk them down.”

“I'll be right over,” Lauren said as she hung up the phone immediately. Even though it wasn't that big of a problem, there was always some human trying to get in the way of fae dealings, and she shrugged as she quickly discarded her lab coat- letting her tone arms breathe as she was wearing a tight blue V neckline shirt- and decided she didn't need a coat. It was warm outside for once and, even if the temperature had taken a sudden nosedive, she would deal with it. The past few days had been abnormally warm and she liked the surge of heat the city was suddenly getting.

Calling a cab for herself, she got her ID and money, put it in her back pocket- she rarely used purses- and locked her door as she went outside to wait for the car. She breathed in the warm air deeply and smiled to herself as she looked toward the sky. How she loved fall, the leaves would die and gently cascade from the trees, the warm air was sometimes put off by a cool and refreshing breeze. Everything about the season was just beautiful.

+++

Lauren looked at her phone's time and sighed; it had been over ten minutes and the cab was still a no show. She hated not having her own transportation, not that she _really_ needed it, and she hoped the naïve coroners wouldn't get there before she did; she would hate for Dyson to have to make up some story as to why they should release the body to the police station instead of examining it themselves.

Her mind drifted to calling Tamsin, maybe the valkyrie had enough free time to pick her up, but she quickly shut it down at the mere thought of the woman's name. She would not break her resolve just because a cab was late!

She leaned against the complex's ledge that lined the steps and looked up at the blue crisp sky. There weren't many clouds and Lauren could see small stars already being shone through the waning color of the day. It was beautiful, the time between late afternoon and dusk. Lauren loved nature, she didn't really know why but for the smell of the trees and the beautiful animals, and she thought it too bad she had no time at all to live in or around it.

Rubbing her forehead a little, she looked back down towards the parking lot, and immediately froze. For a second... just for a second, she thought she saw light blonde hair at the edge of the complex's parking spaces; just before it met the treeline.

Shaking her head, Lauren tried to squint to see further, even though she knew statistically that really didn't help a person's vision and only increased the likelihood of crows feet. She saw a beat up truck just at the end of the complex where she had seen the blonde hair, the same make and model as a certain valkyrie's, but she couldn't see anything else. Stepping down from the building, Lauren started to walk slowly into the parking lot.

Could that really be...

A loud honk behind her pulled Lauren out of her thoughts quickly, and as she turned to look, she saw her cab waiting for her with a greasy man driving. He was very mean looking and he glared back at her, daring her to say a word about his lateness, and instead of playing his dare, the blonde simply got into the cab quickly with only one last look back at the parking squares. She shook her head as she told the cab where to take her, and didn't look back as they drove away.

If she had, if only for a second, she would have seen Tamsin come out of the shadows from the treeline and watch the woman, and the cab, leave. Lauren would have seen Tamsin getting back into her truck, starting it up, and driving to the precinct faster than the cab could drive the human.

She would have seen the woman she was trying her damn hardest to avoid; but Lauren saw none of it.

+++

Tamsin didn't follow Lauren all the way to the precinct, and instead she took most of the back roads she knew of the city blocks, knowing exactly what street came out where due to her policing job. She got to the building a full ten minutes before the cab dropped off Lauren and she sat in her seat opposite Dyson's like she had been there the whole time. Looking over to her partner, she glared at him, daring him to say a word or ask where she had been, but the wolf looked down at his paperwork again, a smile playing on his lips and his head shaking from side to side.

Tamsin knew the damn wolf had known where she had gone on her lunch break.

When Lauren finally entered the building, Tamsin saw sidelong her backtrack from her presence but quickly wiped any expression from her face when she continued to walk up to the partners' desk.

“You asked me to come, Dyson?” Lauren was making a very valiant effort to ignore Tamsin, and it was working.

Dyson flicked his eyes to Tamsin but looked up at Lauren as he said, “Yes, the coroners aren't here yet, so if you don't mind sitting and waiting for them.”

Sure, Dyson, it's okay.” The human pulled on a tight smile and said, “Where can I...?” Lauren eyed around herself, searching for a place to sit, when Dyson got up hurriedly. Showing her over to the interrogation room, he didn't stop there and led Lauren through the back into a more isolated one. She looked up questionably, it wasn't every day she would be led all the way back into that room, but said nothing.

“We don't want the others to question why you're here,” Dyson said, answering Lauren's unasked question.

She nodded curtly, unbelieving of his words as the police station seemed practically deserted for once, but again said nothing. Sitting down after Dyson left, she looked around the room with little interest. It was a prison, she thought as she pressed her fingers to the side of her forehead, just another prison.

Sighing and swiping her hand from their resting positions on her head, she was caught off guard when a rapping sound came from the opened door. Turning sharply and standing, Lauren saw, with surprise, a mysterious sight.

Tamsin.

The valkyrie came in, shutting the door promptly, and stood a ways from Lauren. Her green eyes traveled over the doctor's body, no doubt taking in how emotionally and physically good the doctor still looked, and then to her eyes.

“You look good,” Tamsin confirmed, her green eyes seeming distracted, her body almost itching.

Lauren said nothing as she looked into Tamsin's eyes, wondering herself what the valkyrie hoped to accomplish. Would she apologize to her?

“Right, then straight to the point; why have you been avoiding me?”

Lauren looked at her as if she were crazy, her eyes widening a fraction as she tried to comprehend if the valkyrie was being intentionally ignorant of the situation, or if she simply had never dealt with that type of problem before and genuinely wanted to know the answer. Either way, Lauren still said nothing.

“What, you're not talking now? What the hell, didn't you want to speak like grown-ups three weeks ago? Now _you're_ resorting to the silent treatment.”

The human looked toward Tamsin with something like contempt in her eyes and the valkyrie froze. She had no idea what she was doing, no idea how to handle this. Lauren wasn't speaking to her, Lauren didn't' _want_ to speak to her, and her hands became clammy just as they had done almost a month ago. Had her comment three weeks ago pushed the human so far over the edge, the woman would refuse to talk to her every again? No, that couldn't be true, Tamsin thought as she bent her head to the side as she tried to think of what to do next. Lauren was the only one who got Tamsin, the only one who understood what the valkyrie could possibly be going through, if she left her life so suddenly that would mean she was alone... she didn't know what to do.

So she did what every good valkyrie, a warrior, did so well; she got angry.

“Oh, I see, this is about that vampire I screwed. What, did you think we were exclusive, you and me? Did you think we actually had something together?” Tamsin knew the answer, knew she was being cruel, desperate even; she had thought about the stupid move she had made over and over in her head ever since she made it, but she fell right back into old habits. Old, self destructive habits because she couldn't fathom herself being alone anymore, even though she was the one pushing herself into the rut.

“You're just a lowly human, that's what you think isn't it? Do you think I'm so above you, so much better than you, that my actions somehow have more weight just because I'm stronger, faster, better than you and your primitive human mind? Talk to me, damn it, talk to me!” There was one thing Tamsin couldn't take, and that was silence.

The valkyrie had been screaming ever since she started her sentence and Lauren flinched, just a little, but Tamsin saw it. Opening her mouth to speak again, to somehow apologize for her actions yet again, do something, try anything to appease the human, she was caught off guard by a soft whisper that escaped the doctor's mouth. A whispered word that destroyed everything inside Tamsin; one little word that restored her by simply hearing Lauren's voice. Just a simple word that tore her existence to shreds, something so bitter but tasted so sweet as it reached her ears. Only Lauren, only that small human, could make such a word hold so many emotions, so much doubt, fear, and pain that it would have such an impact on the person that would hear it.

Lauren looked square into Tamsin's eyes, her own betrayed nothing of any type of emotion, and whispered softly, “No,” before walking toward Tamsin and brushing her shoulder slightly. She left the valkyrie there, alone and in shambles, in that small isolated room without a second glance back.

The human moved past Dyson without uttering a word to him, maybe about how sorry she was but she had to leave, and she hoped his corpse would get to him soon. She said nothing as she hailed a cab, this time a nicer looking man pulled in for her, and she sat in silence as he drove her back to her apartment. It was the second time in less than a month that she had left Tamsin almost crying, and she decided, just this once, that it was perfectly fine to be done with someone else.

Lauren was done with Tamsin, she kept playing over and over in her mind, and that was final. She wouldn't allow herself to care so much about the woman ever again, the life, though small and lasting only a week, would never be fathomable and she finally accepted it as she stood there being yelled at. Lauren was tired of being treated like someone's discarded waste, she had been made to do so for over eight years and she was tired of it, all because of the feelings she held. She was done being nice, done being the strong one that took everyone's else's crap, the bigger person could go die in a ditch for all she cared; her feelings meant nothing, her only recourse of asking for an apologize from the valkyrie meant nothing, she was completely done with Tamsin.

And nothing was going to change that.

Not even a desperate, out of breath, Tamsin who bolted out of the precinct, slamming the door to her truck and driving like a madwoman as she tried to get to the apartment complex.

Nothing was going to change her mind, and that was that.

 

 


	7. Dividedness

Tamsin had been turning a corner entirely too sharply and speedily, which wasn't saying much from the output of her piece of shit truck, when she heard her phone go off beside her. Without taking her eyes off the road, Tamsin felt the seat with her long fingers and when she finally found it, clicked the speak button and put it to her ear.

“I'm busy, what?”

“Well before you stormed out of here Indiana Jones style, we just had a report come in.”

Tamsin huffed out a humorless laugh and said, “Do you really think I care about a goddamn case right now?”

“Tamsin,” Dyson was growing impatient, almost as if he was trying very hard to make her understand something; like she was a child, “you have to get here now.”

“I need to talk to her, Dyson.” Tamsin tried instead, making her voice sound needy and quivering to get her partner off her back, but secretly deep inside it was what she felt. “I can't just leave this shit where it is.”

“I promise you'll get to her soon, but right now I need you on Bentley Lane, partner.”

Tamsin heard the line disconnect and she pressed the power button in response. Throwing it back onto the seat, she looked out the window and saw she was only a few streets away from Lauren's apartment complex. Maybe she could just...

No, Tamsin thought harshly, Dyson needed her. She couldn't just walk in to see Lauren and walk back out again. Tamsin knew if she saw the blonde doctor, she would probably break down, leaving the rest of her day open to Lauren's tender touch; not that the human would want to touch her, Tamsin thought bitterly as she banged her hand on the steering wheel. Quickly making an illegal U-turn, the valkyrie drove back the way she came in silence.

Bentley Lane was just a few streets away from the precinct, probably how Dyson had gotten there so quickly, and when Tamsin arrived she saw a bloodied white sheet over the body with only her partner in sight. Closing her rusting door with a loud bang, Tamsin made her way up the small alleyway the body was laying in, and the valkyrie came up beside her partner, looking down at the sheet; bending to take a look.

“Well look at that, a dead kid, how exciting!” Tamsin spoke with fake enthusiasm and if they weren't in a now crowded place, her partner probably would have said something incredibly harsh to get her head in the game.

Dyson bent next to her and responded with a scathing look instead. “Try not be so choked up, it's unbecoming.” Shaking his head he pulled back the sheet after Tamsin had dropped it and said, “If you notice-”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Tamsin cut in, “it's obviously a fae dump. My guess is the giant briars coming out of the kid's mouth is what killed him.” The valkyrie looked down at the boy who looked like a camp goer, and put the sheet over him after taking it from Dyson. Standing up, she dusted off her hands, and looked back at her truck, wondering how long it'd take for her to jump in and drive back towards Lauren's apartment.

“This is the third one this month, Tamsin. We need to find this thing and fast, before it kills again, because we can't keep hiding the bodies if it does.”

Tamsin looked down at the body again, and saw something poking from around the feet. Lifting the sheet up, she saw strange wooden bracelets marking the boy. Checking the kid's hands found her the same bracelets and she sighed as she looked toward her partner.

“It's a tikbalang.” Tamsin continued after her partner looked at her strangely, and she rolled her eyes and said in a sarcastic questioning tone, “That's what did this; a tikbalang. I hunted them in the Philippians, they're a forest creature, strong as a horse, all that crap. Look for where the three victims would have been together and correlate that to places close to nature, and you'll have your murderous fae.”

Dyson eyed her suspiciously, she had seen the reports for over a month and only then did she choose to divulge the information that could have saved the last two victims, but only said, “Okay, when we get back to the precinct, I'll try to find some leads.”

“No, not we, Dyson,” Tamsin said, her finger coming up as if to pause the situation. “I'm going to Lauren's, you can handle the case on your own.” The valkyrie immediately pivoted and tried to leave the crime scene, but Dyson caught her arm quickly, holding her in place with an iron grip.

“We're going back to the precinct. You're the only one who knows what this fae could resemble, I need you there to help catch it.”

“Good thing I don't give a shit what you need,” Tamsin seethed, ripping her arm out of Dyson's grip. Walking away, she stopped suddenly just as she reached her truck as Dyson yelled after her.

“ _You_ screwed it up, Tamsin! Taking that out on everyone else is so _human_ of you.” Dyson's eyes burned and he ignored the few real humans that had crowded around the crime scene inquisitively, knowing they wouldn't understand how deep the insult really went. Coming a bit closer to make the moment more intimate, instead of it being an A, B and C conversation, he said, “Now either you help me with this and get to Lauren sooner, or you don't, in which case I'm going to drag you into the precinct by your hair. It's your choice, partner!”

Tamsin whirled around and glared daggers at the only man she considered to be the closest thing she had to a friend. She wanted to curse, wanted to hit him again as the bruises they had both sustained had healed weeks prior; she wanted to do something that would make his words hurt less inside her heart. But he was right, in the end, he was always right. She _had_ screwed up. She had gotten angry towards Lauren for something she, herself, had done; falling for the doctor. And now the blonde would probably never speak to the valkyrie again, and it was no one's fault but her own for pushing her away like she pushed everyone away. When would she stop?

Breathing heavily, Tamsin pivoted on her heel and got back into her truck. By the time they had been talking, and her inner turmoil had roiled inside her mind, there were a few cops on the scene trying to keep out the pedestrians that had gotten there a few minutes earlier. The valkyrie sat in her truck, staring at her steering wheel, until Dyson got back into his own car and drove off, leaving the valkyrie to follow in her truck back to the station.

The entire ride Tamsin eyed her forgotten phone in the passenger seat, wondering if she should call Lauren, and then forgetting about it almost instantly as she wondered if her heart could take the tang of loneliness of the doctor not picking up. Every time she thought about it, there were even more times she thought about doing the exact opposite, and Tamsin couldn't make up her mind. Even if Lauren _did_ pick up her phone, which Tamsin knew she would most definitely not, she would not be able to spill any words from her mouth to convey how much she had really screwed up and ask the doctor for forgiveness.

The inner thoughts Tamsin struggled with finally made up it's mind as the valkyrie pulled into the garage of the station.

Just as she thought, Lauren did not pick up, and the very professional, but short, voice mail message played and Tamsin waited patiently for the beep. “We need to talk,” Tamsin blurted, her balled fist going to her lips as she knew it was the wrong thing to say right off the bat of the message. “I mean like adults and stuff. And... I don't mean one of us giving the other the silent treatment and the other talking the entire time, I mean a real talk. We can talk about anything you want like, hey, like how crappy the hockey game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators; I mean, if you like hockey. You always watched it when I came over those nights so I just assumed...” Tamsin took the phone from her ear and sighed, her humor was really not working for her, “I know I've been a complete ass and I want to make it up to you. Can we meet sometime soon? You can leave right when you get there if you want, just talk to me, I need to see you... please.”

Tamsin had taken the phone from her ear immediately after asking Lauren to _please_ meet her. Tamsin the Valkyrie did not say please under any circumstances, and she let out a low groan so the phone wouldn't be able to pick up her voice, and put her head on the steering wheel. She was thankfully parked in the garage of the precinct for the entire time the call was being made, and she remembered Dyson had seen that she was on the phone and had walked away into the building, leaving Tamsin to deal with her shit, knowing his partner would get inside when she was finished.

Looking back down at the still connected phone in her lap, she had taken a huge gulp of air and was about to sit back up to keep talking, and she didn't see the burly man come from behind her truck. She reacted too slowly, as she had just put the phone back up to her ear and said Lauren's name, her green eyes noticing something coming up on her side of the truck too late, and the driver door was wrenched open. It flung and hit the opposing car, leaving a dent and made a harsh crunching noise that echoed off the acoustic walls of the garage, and she felt a hard fist fly into the truck, hitting her square in the jaw.

If not for her wizened age, she would have been able to take the powerful hit without blacking out; but she wasn't young anymore and her vision went dark immediately as she felt her body slump in the seat.

+++

“Come on, darling, wakey, wakey.”

Tamsin came to groggily, and her jaw hurting like a mother, to the sound of ice clinking in a glass and a very voluptuous voice. Waking up fully, her hand going to her jaw to crack it slightly, Tamsin saw none other than the damned Morrigan standing over her, her arm outstretched with a glass of scotch.

“Oh come now, it's a peace offering.” The Morrigan's voice raised as it always did when she was trying to sound chipper and she said, “Compensation for your pretty little face.”

“I hate scotch.” Tamsin took the drink nevertheless, swallowed the liquid quickly, and held the remaining ice filled glass to her jaw. “Could of texted, princess, or do you like freshly beaten women in your care? I sense that sorta vibe coming from you.” Tamsin sounded a lot more aggressive than she felt and she waved her hand around to acknowledge the Morrigan's look about her.

“Cheeky, I like that in my beaten women.” The Morrigan came over and sat opposite Tamsin on the edge of her desk, as the valkyrie sat uncomfortably in the chair, and the brunette didn't notice how the Icelandic blonde had reacted when she had called her cheeky. Instead, she simply said, “It has come to my attention that you and the pretty light fae doctor have been, how does the humans say it, 'shacking up'? I like to know what all my employees are doing behind closed doors and you with a human somehow slipped through my net of information.” Evony smiled down at the valkyrie and said, “Do tell how that happened.”

“I don't bother with your info leakage,” Tamsin said, bending forward to put the glass next to the Morrigan's unclad thigh. She was intentionally getting into the Morrigan's personal space, not that the brunette objected, and she bent back into the chair slowly. “Is that really what you kidnapped me out of the light owned territory to discuss?” As long as it wasn't about the tikbalang she had been keeping quite on, Tamsin didn't much care what the Morrigan had brought her there for, and she showed her disinterest by crossing her arms across her stomach as she slumped down into the chair.

The Morrigan simply smiled and set her own glass next to Tamsin's. “No,” She said, getting up and walking behind her desk, “I need you to do something for me.”

“I'm already doing something for you: infiltrate the sunshine gang, yadda yadda yadda.” Tamsin twirled her hand in the air to add dramatic flare and she stopped as the brunette looked her way and smiled coyly.

“And this isn't far from your first few assignments. Since you work so closely with the good doctor, you won't mind slipping these little things into her medicine bag.” The Morrigan came over with strange small black orbs in her hand. They looked like small marbles, maybe even sleek lumps of coal, but as the Morrigan showed them off, they unfolded to show a very squishy interior. Black shiny eyes bore into Tamsin and the valkyrie shivered. She could deal with bugs all day, but underfae bugs, she didn't think so.

Staring back up to the leader of the dark fae, Tamsin asked, “What are they for?”

“Oh poo,” The Morrigan said, closing her palm as she did, “if I told you everything, what fun would that be?”

Tamsin replied with a quick, “Whatever,” before taking the curled underfae from the brunette's hand and putting them in her pocket. Getting up and walking the long room to the door, not interested in anything else the Morrigan might say, Tamsin wasn't surprised when the brunette began to speak again.

“And drop some off at the cop-shop you work at too, darling. And if you ever get back into the light fae compound, drop some there.” Tamsin was glad her back was turned because she would have inadvertently showed the Morrigan her disdain for the woman knowing about all of her movements. “Have fun with the Scooby Gang, toodaloo!”

She hated that woman, Tamsin thought as she exited the room the Morrigan occupied and hit down on the elevator. She hated her with a passion, but now that the valkyrie was so weak, people like the Morrigan was the only one that would take her, unless she-

Tamsin cut the thought off quickly and walked out of the highrise and into the blistering cold. Seeing her truck was nowhere in sight, she bit her lip from yelling out in fury. Instead she seethed, “Kidnap me and don't have the fucking decency to bring my truck around, fucking...” before contemplating how many blocks she would have to walk back to the precinct as her phone was left in the truck; so she couldn't call anyone for a ride. Tamsin's mind slowly thought to the piece of machinery still being on, and she wondered if Lauren had bothered to check her messages to hear the valkyrie's kidnapping.

Shaking her head, that wouldn't have been the case as Dyson would have been there getting her instead of the Morrigan willfully letting her go, and she began the slow agonizing walk home to her truck. Forgetting, just for a moment, about her troubles with Lauren and beginning to wonder about the sinister plan the Morrigan had in store for the Sunshine Gang. The group Tamsin herself had no business being in, whom didn't want to be apart of, and who was only there for one- maybe two- particular individuals. Well, she thought suddenly, maybe three as she was quite fond of the gypsy girl she could have rounds upon rounds of drinks with before they both passed out on each others bodies.

For the first time Tamsin had been infiltrating the group, she would have to make a conscious choice of going against the Morrigan or the people she had come to empathize with. Hell, she had eased a fae's passing and withheld information that could lead to Bo's capture, only because Lauren would have been upset if the succubus was caught. Even before she even knew the group full and whole, she was already doing shit for Lauren that she would never think of for some random stranger.

Tamsin shook her head and weighed the two options before her: if she chose the Morrigan, it would mean giving up the succubus- something Tamsin had little mind to do- but that would hurt Lauren, and the valkyrie had a very large mindset on that particular subject. Going against the gang would prove less fruitful for her, they may have survived this long, but going against the Morrigan in a full out assault?

If there was one thing the valkyrie hated, it was choice, and damn it was she going to have to make a clear cut decision on who she would side with in the end. Her duty or her heart.

Tamsin threw up her hands as she walked against the brisk wind, wishing she could have at least not taken off her jacket before entering her truck, as her bare arms were freezing. Even for a fae, there was only so much she could take dealing with weather.

Shaking her head as she walked the remaining miles to the precinct, white noise cascading over her mind; if only to put off the choice for just awhile longer.


	8. Wariness

Tamsin had no idea where she was walking- though, granted she assumed her feet would take her back to the precinct- and when she looked up at the tall building before her, she cursed herself under her breath. She had been walking for hours, the street lights had started to light with the waning of the day, her feet were killing her and to see the one person she had been trying all day to actually get to... maybe it meant something that she had ended up at the complex in the end.

Her feet ached and her body was chilled to the bone from the cold, but that all ceased when Tamsin knocked on the door and heard a pleasant voice yell, “Coming!” but the valkyrie heard some type of edge to it as if she had been just about to go to sleep or something.

Lauren opened the door, her expression was vacant of any type of mood, though curious as to who had been knocking on her door- expelling Tamsin's thought of her about to go to sleep- but one look at the valkyrie and her eyes dwindled into uneasiness and disaffection.

“Tamsin,” She said, keeping her eyes cold, “what brings you here?” Lauren looked at her as if she wasn't worried at all, even from the way the valkyrie was obviously trying not to shiver. The Morrigan must have wiped the voice mail before it could be sent to her.

The valkyrie gulped, trying not to curse the Morrigan over and over again in her mind, and said, “I... don't really know. I mean,” She continued when she saw Lauren's exasperation flash in her eyes, “I was walking to the precinct and I found myself here instead. Guess I've been trying to see you all day.”

“It's eleven in the evening, Tamsin.” Brown eyes flashed down the body of the valkyrie, obviously a little worried for the Icelandic blonde after hearing she had walked there from however long of a distance. It had been abnormally warm the past few days, but it was like hell froze over at night.

“Better late than not at all,” The valkyrie said, which earned her a few points in her favor as she saw Lauren try to hide a smile of slight affection. “Can I come in, doc?” She wasn't about to say it was because she was freezing her ass off outside.

Lauren looked her up and down again slightly, a worried expression crossing over her face, as her observant eyes saw that Tamsin really was freezing. There was nothing at all the valkyrie could hide from the woman.

Ushering her inside, Lauren closed the door and walked over to the cupboard indented from the opposing wall of the kitchen. Tamsin knew what lay in the small closet, she had watched the human one night after getting in from the rain- though if Tamsin remembered correctly, she had told the blonde they had needed nothing to dry themselves with except what was currently on their person- and her suspicions were correct when she saw Lauren taking out a blue cotton blanket. Walking back over to Tamsin, she promptly covered her without a confirmation that she was allowed to touch the woman. After getting the blanket around Tamsin, the blonde's straight hair bounced slightly as she began to curtly rub the valkyrie's shoulders, heating her up faster than she would have on her own.

Quickly stepping back, if Tamsin saw correctly a slight blush had popped up on the woman's face, but instead of saying anything Lauren looked up at the woman in front of her with a raised eyebrow in question. It was not her place to begin the conversation, it was not her who messed up, and she was showing Tamsin that the valkyrie no longer had the right to stay in her apartment; even if the human had been being civil about it.

Taking a deep breath, Tamsin tried not to let her eyes wander from Lauren's face and equally tried to stop her foot from tapping agitatedly at her side, she began, “So for the past few weeks, the past month, I've been... selfish.” Tamsin had to roll the word around her tongue before saying it, as she had never apologized for anything in her life. “I've been a shitty person, what else is new right, but I took it out on you when it wasn't deserved. It wasn't right, doc, I knew it when it happened and I know it now. I may be fucked in the head but I do comprehend natural emotions even in my old age.”

Tamsin looked into brown eyes, trying not to sound like she was talking down to the human, and said, “You were hurt because of me; no, Lauren, you were.” She held up her hand when Lauren tried to intervene, maybe to tell her it wasn't the valkyrie's fault or something else that would be so damn civil and politically correct of the human, and only lowered it when it looked as if the doctor wouldn't respond. “If I hadn't been so nonchalant about _everything_ you wouldn't have gotten that hole in your side, and I wouldn't have had to witness your death spiral. If I had just _listened_ to you when you came to me with information on the killer, if I hadn't run away instead of facing the problem instead of going to the Dal that night...

“I should have come to you or something.” Tamsin looked up again, she hadn't realized she'd been staring at the ground, tugging her fingers as if she was some school child who had to tell their mother why the vase was suddenly broken when it was just fine two seconds ago. “I'm a warrior, that's all I know, doc, and this- what we have- I don't know how to deal with it. I mean hell, this is probably the most I've talked in centuries,” The valkyrie laughed humorlessly, her green eyes still focused on the doctor. “You make me want to be a better person, doc, a better valkyrie, a better fae. Hell, even an all around nice gal. But when I saw you dying in the back of my truck, when I felt how deep my loneliness went, I just snapped.

“When you've been a certain way for a long time, you don't notice how that thing becomes you, not until someone lowers a hand through the darkness and quicksand to get you out of it. So when you gave me that hand, I didn't understand how much it meant to me until I started hurting you and it became so obvious. I told myself I wouldn't allow anyone to hurt you again, but all this time it's been me. I just don't know how to deal, doc, but I can do better.”

Tamsin's voice suddenly broke from her last sentence and she turned sharply to hide her face. No way was she going to tear up in front of this human, she was a damn warrior, she didn't cry, she didn't show emotion other than hatred and a love of warfare. So why did the human standing opposite her bring the emotions she longed to push down bubbling to the surface when she was around her? It didn't much matter, Tamsin decided, as there was no way the human would take her now that she had confessed what her heart had been feeling. She couldn't believe it herself, that she had told Lauren almost everything, and wondered if it was going to be a normal thing now or if it was just a one time deal and she could go back to being snarky, fun, and sneaky all in one day.

She was thrown from her thoughts when Lauren came across the little space they stood apart and touched her hand gently as the valkyrie stood facing away from her. Placing her other warm hand on the valkyrie's clad shoulder, the human pulled her around to face her, bending her own down a ways as she tried to catch Tamsin's eyes. She smiled, a real and proper smile instead of a sad one, when the valkyrie moved this way and that as to not look at her. Finally brushing her fingers across Tamsin's face, the human standing erect again, she made the woman look her in the eyes.

“Tamsin,” She said slowly, almost deliberately, “that is... _all_ I wanted from you.” Without a second thought, maybe about her resolve made earlier that day, she grabbed hold of Tamsin's shoulders and pulled her into a hug that warmed the valkyrie ten times more than a silly blanket could. Lauren's chin rested on Tamsin's shoulder, the only thing she could reach with her current height, and forgetting the blanket as it fell to the floor, the valkyrie bent down to hug the blonde back. Yet another thing the valkyrie had never done before, but it was nice, she thought, it always felt right when Lauren was in her arms. And if something felt nice, didn't that mean it was good for you?

Pressing her nose and lips into Lauren's hair, Tamsin breathed in the smell of the human, the intoxicating, wonderful, sweet smell of her. She had missed that smell of honeysuckle and vanilla for the past month, she thought as they cradled each other in their arms, she had missed it with a passion.

After finally disengaging from each other, the longest hug Tamsin had ever been through, Lauren looked up into brilliant, almost transparent, green eyes and smiled. Hooking her hands across the back of Tamsin's head, Lauren slowly brought the valkyrie's lips down to her own. A month had been a long time to be away from the person you cared for, and the valkyrie must have understood as she complied immediately.

Bending down a ways and hooking her arms underneath Lauren's thighs, all without disengaging the kiss, Tamsin quickly lifted her onto her hips and absolutely loved the way the human immediately tied her legs around her waist; the way her hair fell across Tamsin's face as the human moved and tilted her head.

They had wanted this, for such a long time, it had been over a month since their first real time together. A month of hatred, contempt, of rage and passion. And all that passion was about to be exuded in one night, Tamsin knew, one simple and loving night.

They got to Lauren's bed in no time at all; Tamsin had shown off her strength and ascended the stairs with Lauren still around her. Along the way, Lauren had been bending backwards every so often, keeping her life in Tamsin's hands as the valkyrie tried not to drop her at the redistributed weight, and taken off garment after garment, along with the ponytail that held the valkyrie's bun. The human's chest was completely bare of the blue shirt, the white tank-top underneath quickly being discarded almost immediately after, as Tamsin flung her down onto the bed and she smiled warmly. Lauren reached her arms out to the valkyrie, and Tamsin brushed her hand down them, pushing her knees into the bed on either side of the woman.

Trailing her tongue, starting at the woman's stomach and up to kiss, bite, and lick on her neck, Tamsin massaged Lauren's breasts with delicate fingers. Pinching the nipple between her index and ring fingers, Tamsin smiled into Lauren's neck when she heard the human gasp and moan, and she wondered if she should be gentle or harsh like she had always done before. Was there something new she was supposed to do since they were now, officially, a couple?

Instead of thinking about it too hard, the valkyrie found Lauren's mouth and she trailed her hands down to her pants. Unbuttoning them slowly, oh so painstakingly slowly, she smiled as Lauren moaned Tamsin's name again when she had finally gotten them off.

Raising up from the bed, Tamsin quickly discarded the garment onto the floor, and looked down at the appetizing black boxer shorts Lauren wore. She would have gone and taken them off immediately but for Lauren stopping her, raising herself from the bed as well so that she sat almost erect with Tamsin over her. Kissing the taller valkyrie, she undid Tamsin's thin buttoned shirt and threw it down. Raising the spaghetti strap tank-top over her head slowly, she brought Tamsin's breast together and kissed the tops of them. Smiling up at the taller woman, Lauren undid her pants and laughed as Tamsin fell over sideways onto the bed as she tried to hurriedly take them off.

Quickly taking advantage of this, Lauren climbed on top of Tamsin before the valkyrie could move after getting rid of her pants. Reaching around her back, Lauren quickly undid and took off her bra; smiling as Tamsin's hands rested on the sides of her back as Lauren's mouth descended on her breasts again. Smiling as she did so, she reached her right hand down slowly to Tamsin's panty line. Flicking her eyes upward devilishly to see if Tamsin would protest, Lauren had never been so aggressive during sex before as she left it up to Tamsin to drown out her agonizing thoughts before reciprocating, she quickly delved deeper, underneath the panties.

“Shit,” Tamsin groaned as Lauren's fingers pressed lightly against the wet flesh. The blonde teasingly rubbed the nub lightly with a thumb and smiled as Tamsin dug her fingers into Lauren's shoulders, trying to push the doctor's delicate surgical fingers inside the folds.

“Say it,” Lauren whispered, flicking her tongue against Tamsin's throat.

“Say what?” The valkyrie knew in that one moment she would say anything to sedate the burning ache from her cunt.

“The magic word.”

Tamsin tried not to moan as Lauren swirled her fingers against her sex. For some reason she couldn't fathom, it felt slower, lasting, better than their sexapades before and Tamsin knew she'd do or say anything to end the burn. Even if she hated the word she was being ordered to say, but she had to do it. “Please,” She whispered finally. She felt Lauren smile against her throat again, the entire time she had been nibbling and swirling her tongue, and the next moment Tamsin's mind was filled with bliss as everything else was pushed out.

“I would have been alright with isotopes,” Lauren's husky breath was delicious next to the valkyrie's ear, and from the woman's voice alone would have made her climax if not for the rhythmic pulses coming from her sex.

Lauren dug her fingers into Tamsin's wetness without hesitation or resistance, and curled them at the apex as she moved inside forcefully. Tamsin's nails dug into Lauren's back as the doctor moved her crotch to sit on Tamsin's right thigh, her fingers working even faster as she got the right leverage. The sound of her own ragged breath, her own wetness slopping against Lauren's skilled hand, was more than Tamsin could stand as the human continued to move inside her after grabbing a fistful of hair with her left hand. Her teeth bit into Tamsin's neck as the valkyrie moaned and she hooked her left leg over Lauren's lower half, just above her ass.

The human grunted, god Tamsin always loved her grunts, and she let a breath escape as she rubbed just the right way on Tamsin's thigh. The valkyrie could feel Lauren's wetness through her damn boxer shorts and smiled wickedly as she intentionally moved her thigh against Lauren's cunt. The human gasped and looked daggers at Tamsin, she obviously wasn't expecting any type of play from the valkyrie though she always did so, and Tamsin was punished by Lauren curling and pushing her fingers deeper into the woman; a nice rough patch that hit just the right area.

“Shit!” Tamsin looked down and laughed as Lauren looked up at her with a smile playing on her lips, as if she had won some victory. “Oh you liked that, did you? How about-” Tamsin cut herself off as she bucked her thigh into Lauren's sex. The human gasped and let out a small yell, she was completely cut off guard from the maneuver, and Tamsin felt her smile widen when she saw it hit Lauren's clit just the way she wanted it to.

“No... fair,” Lauren breathed as Tamsin did not stop moving her thigh against her boxer shorts.

“Just repaying the favor, doc.” Tamsin looked up at the blonde and pressed her hand against her back, making her move a little ways upward so the valkyrie could have ample access to her breast. Licking, swirling, nibbling her nipples, Tamsin smiled into the mass as Lauren moaned slightly. She had to hand it to the human doctor, Tamsin thought, the woman never stopped her fingers even in the midst of her own pleasure.

Tamsin wrapped her right hand in Lauren's hair, her left still leaving warm marks on the woman's lower back, as she felt herself reaching the edge of the abyss. Lauren knew it too as she felt the walls tighten around her fingers. Pressing her lips into Tamsin's hair, her fingers clawing at her scalp, she moved faster, so much faster, inside of the valkyrie and she curled her fingers for the last time. Brushing her thumb across Tamsin's clit made the valkyrie tumble over the edge without hesitation. She breathed a line of curses as her body raised up, pushing her mouth onto Lauren's throat, and she was grateful her body relaxed after a few moments of soft spasms.

Breathing heavily, Tamsin looked up at the blonde woman, who's forehead rested on the lithe of skin between the valkyrie's shoulder and neck, and saw a brilliant half crescent smile; the same smile she had given her on their second day of sharing a bed together, and just like that Tamsin knew they were transported back to a month ago. It was almost like the last thirty days didn't even happen as Lauren looked sidelong at her lovingly with whiskey colored orbs, but Tamsin knew it did; the valkyrie knew and remembered all the pain and hurt she had caused that beautiful woman above her, knew of her mission set out by the damned brunette woman.

Trying to forget, Tamsin quickly topped Lauren, the human letting out a yelp of surprise at the sudden movement as she had kept her face near Tamsin's chest to listen to the valkyrie's strong and drumming heartbeat, and the Icelandic blonde knew it was only to forget anything and everything she could for the next few hours. If only to excuse her own behavior for what she was forced to do next.

+++

Tamsin awoke suddenly through the night, from a indiscernible nightmare from many battles ago, and she had to stop herself from jolting as she felt a warm, slight body against hers. Looking down in the gloom of the bed, only illuminated by a blue colored numbered alarm clock on the bedside table, she saw the shape of Lauren's beautiful hair cascading over Tamsin's chest, her breathing regular and her face seemed content in slumber. The valkyrie would have smiled to herself, she had really worn the woman out from the three hours of the night, if not for the mission she was on.

Slowly reaching down and moving Lauren's outstretched arm from across her stomach, Tamsin quickly sat on the side of the bed after completely moving Lauren to her side. The human had moaned in unconsciousness, she missed and craved Tamsin's warmth and curled her body as her arms wrapped around her pillow, and the valkyrie had to look away before she would be enthralled in the doctor's beauty; forgetting about her orders and laying with the human for just awhile longer until sunrise.

Tamsin's legs dangled down and touched the cold floor, shocking her further awake, and she pushed her hands through her hair, making it drip down her shoulders even more as she remembered Lauren had taken out her ponytail as they ascended the stairs, and she looked around the room.

She didn't want to do this; she did _not_ want to do this.

Tamsin had spent enough time in Lauren's apartment, when she was taking care of her and... before, to know where the human kept her medical bag as Tamsin would occasionally be asked to rifle through it for Lauren's medicine or some type of drug the human needed at the time. The doctor had two, one in her living area upstairs, and one downstairs tucked away just underneath the small cubbie that she had pulled the blanket from earlier. It wouldn't be fruitful to place it in the downstairs bag as, Tamsin knew instantly, Lauren never carried that one out with her as it was for emergencies when a fae or human came to her house seeking aid, and the valkyrie wondered briefly if the Morrigan would know that she tampered with her plan; whatever that plan may have been.

Finally deciding and moving, Tamsin walked to the closet silently, she forgot of the cold permeating her bare body as she didn't even think of grabbing her clothes and wasting precious seconds, and she opened the closet door quietly. Passing back to the bed after finding and pulling out the black bag, Tamsin recovered one of the bug underfae from her discarded pant pocket and passed the room again. Bending down, she placed it far enough into the bag where it wouldn't be spotted easily, nor would it be rifled with as it was underneath all of the papers and medicine bottles, and waited for something spectacular to happen when she was finished. When it didn't, Tamsin frowned slightly but, as her mission was done, she quickly zipped up the bag and put it back where she found it.

Quickly returning to bed and looking down at the beautiful blonde woman, she sighed as a twinge of guilt ripped through her and she wondered if she could even lay with the doctor again for the rest of the night; waking up in the morning as if nothing had happened and she didn't betray her just the night after making up.

If she did, it'd feel like a thousand more knives pressing into her body than there already was, the valkyrie wouldn't be able to lose consciousness from her betrayal.

If she didn't, Tamsin would run the risk of Lauren being upset, even crying, over the fact she had left without saying anything. The valkyrie had half a mind to leave a note saying something along the lines of, “Thanks for the all night sexapade, I'll see you at work, doc.” but she knew that was even more ludicrous.

Tamsin knew she must have looked like a serial killer, standing over and glaring down at Lauren, so instead she picked up the human's phone from her discarded pants and pressed it on as she held it to her ear. When it connected the call, she whispered, “Dyson, are you still at the precinct?”

“Why are you on- yeah, I'm still here. Why; you want to finally grace us with your presence?”

“Cut the crap, I didn't leave because I wanted to,” Tamsin whispered furiously, turning away from Lauren so the doctor wouldn't awaken from the late night call.

“Yeah, whatever.” Dyson sounded bored, disinterest seeping over the phone like a fog, and Tamsin had to roll her eyes after shutting them for a few moments to calm herself.

“I'm coming over, I need to... talk to you about something.”

Tamsin hung up the phone before her partner could ask why her voice had changed from almost hostile to passionately needy in a fraction of a second. Something was changing her, and the valkyrie knew it had to do with the beautiful blonde woman who lay in bed before her. It didn't stop her from doing what she was ordered to do... but maybe it could help her make the right decision in the future.

All Tamsin knew was that she would not let the love they shared that night dwindle so quickly as she had let it last time. She would change, for the better just as she had told Lauren, and she would do it soon.


	9. Aimlessness

Walking into the precinct was a lot simpler than Tamsin had initially thought it would be. There were no guards, working the graveyard shift always left only one officer on duty, and as she walked into the large office area after retrieving her phone from her truck, she saw only Dyson at his desk, facing away from the doorway as he was enthralled in the case files scattered across his desk. No doubt smelling her from the air displacement, the wolf shifter looked around and eyed her quick, done-up bun, and her messy apparel.

“You didn't leave because you wanted to, but you've got Lauren's scent all over you. Nice,” Dyson said, annoyance dripping from his words. He had been there for God knew how many hours and he would have been on his way home already if not for his partner's disappearance act.

“Can we just-” Tamsin sighed, aggravated by her partner's mood but unwilling to go any further to start another argument. Her feet hurt from walking to Lauren's place and then the precinct, there were probably blisters upon blisters at that point, and on top of that it was freezing outside.

Dyson looked back round, maybe sensing his partner's discomfort but still extremely annoyed, and said, “You going to sit down or what? I just made a fresh pot, you want one?”

“Yeah, sure.” Tamsin came to sit on the edge of Dyson's desk and smirked when he grabbed the cup she always used and put it next to her thigh. He had brewed it in just the amount of time for her to get there, so it'd be ready for her, though she didn't know how since she didn't have her truck with her, she made it to the precinct in double the time she wanted on foot. The man was a good one, Tamsin had to admit, and she tried to hide her approval after taking a just right sip. Looking down, Tamsin glanced over what he was working on and raised an eyebrow when he tried to hide it. “We keeping secrets now?” She asked, looking her partner up and down.

Dyson rubbed his chin and said, “Just didn't think you'd be interested.”

“Depends on the subject.” Tamsin took another sip of coffee, staring at her partner with interest.

“Bo.”

Sucking on her teeth she cocked her head to the side and said, “You're right, I'm not.” Looking down at Dyson, who shrugged, she continued, “But if you want to talk about it...”

“I'd rather talk about why you sounded defeated over the phone almost an hour ago.” The wolf shifter looked up and saw Tamsin almost jerk from his statement. She probably thought he'd forgotten, or simply wouldn't care, in the long while it took her to get to the station.

The valkyrie shrugged and said, almost nonchalantly, “Just needed to ask you some advice.”

Dyson pushed his chair from underneath his desk and opened his arms wide, allowing her the floor without any type of snarky laughter from her need to ask for help. Placing his hands onto his midsection, the detective looked at Tamsin intently.

“What do you do when... your loyalties are tested?” Tamsin didn't want to talk about this, she really didn't not see the point in allowing her partner into her business, but if she couldn't speak to Dyson who could she?

The shifter rubbed his chin in thought and said, “Depends on how strong your loyalties are. Would you stay with your king if they told you to hurt someone?”

“Yes.”

“Would you stay with them if they told you to kill someone?”

“...Yes,” Tamsin said with less definitive tone than before.

“Then your hesitance, I assume, is because of a task they've ordered you- hypothetically-” Dyson added, putting up his hands in defense as Tamsin's head whipped up from staring into her coffee mug, “-ordered you to do something you don't want to do. Now why is that the case?”

The valkyrie's fingers kneaded the mug as she thought it over, how much she should really tell her partner, and said, “I just don't know what to do. People, my.. king, my boss, they keep pulling and pulling and pulling, and one day I feel like I'm just going to be pulled in half.”

“Who's pulling you in half?”

“Everyone!” Tamsin pushed off the table after putting down her coffee, immediately aggravated, and put her hands to her head. “Lauren, you, the goddamn Morrigan. Hell, even the siren's tried once or twice with this stupid light and dark program. I can't keep doing everything you all want, I can't always be in the precinct for you, I can't be with Lauren when she wants, it doesn't work that way; I wasn't put here for _you_.”

“What were you put here for, Tamsin?” Dyson's inquisitive eyes searched hers as she looked at him with sudden realization of how much she had really said, and she would have spoken more even though she knew she shouldn't, but her phone buzzed in her pocket just before she released any viable information.

Fishing it out of her pocket with a sigh she read it silently, all the while as her eyes read the line of text, her brow furrowed more and more until she looked up at Dyson. “I have to leave.”

“Wait, just talk to me, partner. We can figure this out together. If you're meant to harm someone, I can-”

“You've done enough. And Dyson,” Tamsin said as she turned, just before leaving the office, “thanks.” She almost ran from the wolf's misunderstanding gaze, and down the stairs to the parking garage where her truck was parked. Opening the door quickly and getting in, it was right where she left it, she found the keys still in the ignition. Good thing they were in a precinct garage, she thought as she turned the key to start the engine, or else her truck would have been stolen.

_Chyeah right, like someone would want this heap of junk._

Tearing out of the garage, Tamsin took out her phone and read the text message again:

Meet me at my office.

-M.

Tamsin really did not want to go, especially after the abrupt message, but when her king called her, she went. Like a god damn lap dog.

+++

“Darling, it's good to see you again,” The Morrigan said as Tamsin walked through the door without her assistant present. Evony watched, a wicked grin on her features, as Tamsin stood defiantly beside the chair that was set out for her. “We've learned something extremely special from your doctor friend.” She winked and Tamsin shuddered.

“What do you mean?” If the Morrigan was trying to find any weakness that the valkyrie would portray over her lover supposedly being probed for information, she didn't show it.

“Oh honey, don't tell me you're that stupid.” Evony's eyes flashed when she saw Tamsin physically restrain herself from jumping across the table to strangle the woman. “That little underfae you placed in the human's bag, it was the offspring of a mermaid and a satori.” The Morrigan sighed as she had to explain the situation. “It feeds off of the thoughts of those who it coexists with, and with simple fae engineering, I can gain access to the thoughts it feeds on. Be sure to drop the rest as I've instructed you to.” Evony added as she walked around her desk as she did earlier that day to rest against it.

“What does this have to do with me?” Tamsin silently thanked the gods that the underfae wouldn't hurt the human but her mind changed direction at Evony's words.

“The succubitch's Dawning is happening this weekend. Just two days, for the boys and girls who aren't paying attention. The human doesn't know why the ritual is happening so rapidly but it's of no matter. You're going to do something for me to ensure she doesn't make it out of there alive.”

“And what would that be?”

The Morrigan smiled and said, “You're going to offer yourself as Hand and you're going to kill the bitch inside her Dawning.”

Tamsin's mouth fell open despite herself and she shook her head, closing it slowly. “Are you freaking insane? Interrupting her Dawning would kill us both!” Not to mention, Tamsin thought, if the Caretaker remembered her and had a problem with the valkyrie tagging along.

“Then you both die.” The Morrigan chuckled as she said it and Tamsin had to stop herself again from jumping the small gap between the women and killing the dark fae leader. “She'll be too powerful if she's allowed to complete the Temple. You will stop her or I will come after you next.”

“Hell, maybe I'm safer with the succubus,” Tamsin said, shrugging as she leaned sideways onto the chair crossing her arms. “It's been, what, three years and you still haven't taken her out? Talk about a ballsy bitch.”

The Morrigan glared at the valkyrie but smiled as she said, “Well, if you won't do this for me, I'll just have to torture and kill that pretty little pet of yours.” Tamsin's head whipped around immediately and the Morrigan laughed. “I thought that'd catch your attention. There's so much a person can learn from one fortnight with someone's thoughts.”

“You can't touch her,” Tamsin breathed, her words almost catching as they poured from her lips. “She's ward of the Ash and the light fae. You touch her, you start a-”

“What, a war?” Evony laughed and brushed her hand in the air. “Honey, please. They wouldn't go to war over some simple human. They aren't that desperate for bloodshed! They're not like us, not like Dark, we'd go to war for... anything wouldn't we?” The Morrigan had walked slowly over to Tamsin and taken a finger, brushing away a strand of the fallen hair from Tamsin's face.

It was like she knew everything, Tamsin thought, and she wondered stiffly about all of her own memories or thoughts that seeped into the underfae's consciousness.

“Whatever, I'll do it.” Tamsin hit the Morrigan's hand away from her, resisting the urge to voice a disgusted tone, and turned sharply.

Just as the first time, the Morrigan shouted after her as she left the room, “And darling, learn to smile! That frown ill only give you wrinkles.”

When Tamsin walked out of the Morrigan's office, shooing the assistant away as she always did, she tried to fill her head with white noise to drown out her own screams or the plan the bitch wanted her to play out. She wondered briefly if the underfae still in her pocket were reading her mind that very instant and wondered if she should throw them out or complete the mission. She had already been to the precinct and had not done as the Morrigan had ordered, and the woman probably knew unless she had been so focused on Lauren's thoughts in the night that she did not see Tamsin's.

Flipping up her coats collar from the cold, she had retrieved it from the precinct before she had left, Tamsin was so wrapped up in her own mind that she did not see a particular detective's car parked a ways down the street. The detective was rubbing his chin, his eyes had gone a menacing golden color as the whites of his eyes devolved into black, as he watched the valkyrie walk to her truck slowly. He watched as the woman bore a hole into her steering wheel for a few moments and then, without warning, she began to pound the black wheel as if there was no tomorrow. She finally stopped after a thin line of blood trickled down the steering wheel, and she realized she had broken open her own skin with the force. It seemed to calm her down, if only for a few moments, to get her thoughts in check.

Wiping the trail of blood from the wheel and sighing, the detective watched as the woman flipped her key into the ignition and drove off without a look at her surroundings.

Something was going on with Tamsin, Dyson knew, and if his little reconnaissance mission said anything, it was that the woman was in serious turmoil and trouble. Starting up his own engine, he pulled away from the curb and drove back to his apartment, his index finger on his lips. He would have to confront her eventually, he knew he would have to take time out of his own schedule and Bo's Dawning, and ask the valkyrie what was so wrong. He doubted the woman would ever tell him in a million years, but she was his partner and he had to try as they would both be still alive and kicking in the following years. He just had to try.


	10. Fallaciousness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Here it is, guys! Now this chapter is crazy special to me, and hopefully to you! as this was done by a great friend, Wondersnatch-hi-have-we-met on Tumblr and Vslayer on )'s. You probably know her if you're reading this piece of copdoc, as her story is amazing and named Dark Fae'ed! I hope you like this collaborated work, and thanks for keeping with me and the two blondes for this long.

Tamsin had driven over the limit- which wasn't all that much faster considering what the old piece of rust she was driving in could handle- for most of the familiar trip to the Dal. She had been ready to simply jump in head first after thinking about it all night; get in, do the thing, get the fuck out, possibly alive, until now. Now, the tall blonde was standing in front of the door, reluctant to step inside. Dude, she was even fidgeting. Was she truly ready to surrender her life away for her 'King', a King which by the way, had really bad drawn-on eyebrows, Tamsin thought.

Placing her head on the cold of the door, her hand quivering above the handle, she began to roll the possibilities and consequences over in her mind. Did she want to go through with it? The Scandinavian had seen how relentless the Succubus could be when it came to saving her loved ones, and it could either work in her favor or against her, but would she be so fiercely loyal when fooled by the guise Tamsin would create?

The valkyrie began to lightly hit her forehead against the door, hoping to either knock some sense into her brain, knock herself out so she wouldn't have to make a decision, or to simply hurt herself because she thought she deserved some type of punishment, she didn't know. Not like she hadn't already had a full month of punishment, she thought slowly, as she remembered all the things she had done to Lauren.

_Oh shit... Lauren._

Tamsin took a quick step away from the door, recoiling from it as if it were a burning lake of brimstone, as she remembered the human doctor was most likely inside. She would have to face her, see the way the human's eyes rose in question when Tamsin would say those damned words, would have to watch as the valkyrie went into the portal along with the succubus under guise of coming back out alive.

No, she wouldn't do that to Lauren. She couldn't, not after the woman had lost everything else in her life, but... didn't she have to? To save Lauren's life, to save the precious moments the doctor had left from the Morrigan? No matter the consequences, she was still dying, hell she should have expired centuries ago yet here she was, strutting about like her clock never struck zero. Karma, karma is what this was, Tamsin thought as she looked toward the door, trying to decide whether to go in or not. From all the lives she had taken, from all the shit she had done in her long lifetime, this was her punishment.

Just when she thought she had it all figured out, the valkyrie was pulled out of her tantalizing thoughts when a soft yet firm hand rested on her shoulder, a burly voice sounding by her ear. Quickly recognizing the voice didn't stop her from shrugging her shoulder away from the warm hand, glaring up at her partner; refusing to give him any such nicety today for fear of her resolve finally breaking. Dyson stepped away, his hand falling uselessly to his side, and he looked as if he was hurt by the sudden hostility Tamsin showed him.

“I didn't think you knew about Bo's...” Dyson pointed to the door as his words failed him.

Not 'cause you told me, your partner, the blonde wanted to say, but instead opted for, “Yeah, well, word gets around D-man.”

“Like the Morrigan's?”

At first Tamsin thought it was a lucky guess, she worked for the dark by all means, but as she studied his face and his definitive tone, her green eyes briefly grew wide before she scrunched up her face and glared at the wolf. “Did you follow me like a lap dog? Have you been spying on me, partner?” The word that once meant loyalty was hurled back at the wolf with such venom, it took all the man had to not backtrack. “If you tell me you recognized her scent on me, I will hurl.”

“Calm down, Tamsin.” The wolf raised up his hands in surrender. “It's not like it's in my job description to follow my partners around. But how the hell am I supposed to trust you if you won't even tell me why you're attitude flips around faster than a Gemini on a Thursday? You can trust me, isn't that what partners are supposed to do?” Dyson looked down at the valkyrie, knowing he wasn't getting anywhere and said, “But if we're being completely honest here, that scent isn't hard to miss.” Dyson covered his nose with his wrist in mock disgust at the Morrigan's smell and Tamsin tried not to crack a smile.

“That bitch is rotten, no doubt about that,” was delivered with a straight face, until Tamsin put her index in her mouth and faked gagged. Just for a second, she smiled, just for a moment, she chuckled as if carefree. The reality of the situation, however, put a damper on her mood almost instantly. Clearing her throat, the tall woman's gaze was cast down, examining her shoes like they were the most interesting thing in the world. “Look, Dyson, I never asked you to trust me. We're both working for two completely different sides and we both have our orders to carry out. Don't believe everything the siren says about this transfer, it's not going to end well and we both know it.”

“Tamsin,” Dyson grabbed hold of the valkyrie's shoulders as she tried to move inside, “talk to me! Do your orders demand you to hurt someone in there? If they do, we can figure it out together. You just need to tell me, are you supposed to-”

“Dyson!” The shout effectively silenced the wolf, and they stood there like blistering idiots, peering into each other's eyes. Both searching for something completely different, yet the end result was ultimately the same: One's seeking trust while the other's backing away from it, secretly wishing it wasn't there. It would make everything easier, wouldn't it? Tamsin was already too deep in; there was nothing she could say to pardon her actions and despite herself, it pained her. “It is my problem, and I will deal with it in my own way. I'm sorry, Dyson,” Tamsin whispered softly before she whirled around and marched into the fae hangout.

+++

“I offer myself as hand!” The Scandinavian's words made the small gather of people turn their heads towards her, questions in their eyes, yet some already knowing the answer. She held the doctor's gaze, wishing there was something she could do or say; anything that might quell the raging fire that was aching her chest.

Lauren was the only one who could offer her solace and peace, if only for the few moments they had been together, and Tamsin was about to throw it all away; and for what? To complete Evony's dirty job that she was never able to finish herself? To put an end to a grudge that wasn't even hers to begin with? She was caught in the crossfire of good and evil, and the choice was inevitably hers to make. Which side would she ultimately trust; the one she was born into, or the one that had adopted her into their own family of sorts, even mildly?

Taking her eyes away from her lover's confused face, Tamsin redirected her very harsh glare at her partner.

“Are you completely out of your mind, Tamsin?!” Dyson growled as he chased his partner inside the bar. A strong hand gripped the blonde's bicep, though it was swiftly shrugged away, and he fell back on glaring at the woman.

Shooting daggers at the bearded man, she clenched her jaw, speaking through gritted teeth, “I know what I'm doing, Dyson.”

“What exactly _are_ you doing?” Dyson received a silent squint in response from Tamsin, whom he grew more suspicious of by the minute. Just a few days ago, she could confide in him, though very minimally, and now she was shutting him out completely. What changed; what did the Morrigan say to her?

With a nod of his head, the Barkeep's gaze briefly landed on the blue-eyed wolf. “The offer has been made. The valkyrie knows the price.” Turning towards his granddaughter, Trick turned his palms outwards. “It's up to you, Bo, to accept or to decline.”

Mouth agape, the brunette's stare bounced from one person to the next until it fixed itself on Trick. “I don't even know what that means, Trick.”

Stella was the one to answer the succubus' inquiry, “Tamsin chose to aid you on your journey. She will be accompanying you throughout your Dawning in hopes it will help you complete it, if you accept of course.”

“Choose me as your hand instead.” Dyson stepped forward, pleading the brunette with softness in his eyes that usually placated her enough to trust him. In this instance, however, it worked against him.

Bo's eyes hardened as well as her features and she said, “Tamsin is the only one who's been honest with me these past few weeks, while all of you kept lying to me, and she didn't even now about the Dawning ritual!”

“But can we trust her?” He gave the succubus one last silent plea, one last chance to listen to him, ignoring his partner's heated gaze at the meaning of his question. “Bo, you know you can trust me, I've always been there for you.”

“It's not up to you, Dyson.” Brown eyes hard as ice, she didn't even bring up how cruel it was to even bring up not trusting Tamsin from the close bond the detectives had to have made, Bo turned to her grandfather and spoke in an even, decisive tone, “I accept Tamsin's offer.”

“And so we're ready to begin.” With the formalities out of the way, and a deathly gaze at Dyson from their talk earlier that day of his failing to protect his granddaughter, Trick led them both a bowl of water on the ground.

Tamsin knew if she looked at Lauren now, her resolve would fade faster than snow melting on a summer day. She knew this, yet she did it anyway. In less than a second she had crossed the distance between them both, the blonde had a face filled with uncertainty in sadness, and the valkyrie scooped the smaller blonde into her arms, capturing her unexpected yet inviting lips with her own.

The sudden display of affection surprised everyone. Everyone save for Dyson and Kenzi; the tiny human had perceived what everyone else hadn't, as they were so preoccupied with a certain brunette to notice anything else around them, and she smiled slightly at the affection the valkyrie was portraying for once.

This isn't a goodbye kiss, this isn't a goodbye kiss, the valkyrie repeated to herself over and over again. She knew if she thought anything else, her resolve would fully break apart and she would take Lauren's hand and run from the Dal, run away and never look back toward the small town and the murderous Morrigan who ruled over it.

Lauren breathed out the blonde's name; both a question and a statement, “Tamsin...” Taking a half-step backwards, she took both of the valkyrie's hands into her own, her shimmering brown eyes focused on their intertwined fingers. “Come back safe, please.” It was so simple, that one small sentence, but it was all Tamsin needed to figure out what she was going to do next.

The detective nodded, squeezing the doctor's hands reassuringly instead of one of her famous quips, before she turned around to see the portal now open and crackling with blue and green energy. “Let's do this.” Taking hold of the stunned succubus' hand, who also didn't expect such affection from the valkyrie, she took a step forward, letting the gateway transport both fae alike into the Dawning.

+++

Bo Dennis listened to the Caretaker- well, she half listened as she continuously shot pointed glares at the Icelandic blonde, whom was busy looking around for “anything unusual”. Bo repeated this last statement in her head with a nagging voice as when she had asked the valkyrie, the blonde had shot off at the mouth with that quip. She wondered if she still had time to get Dyson to be her Hand instead. Was she bitter that Lauren would love elsewhere, or sad that they never got to finish what they started due to Bo's own denial of her full feelings for Dyson; also wanting to keep Lauren safe from harm that she would be put into all due to the succubus' presence? Hell, when was the last time she had actually sought closure in a relationship? Closure is for those who stop trying; I never stop trying, she thought defensively.

She wholeheartedly respected Lauren's choices, and Tamsin had easily earned her spot on Bo's 'One of the good ones' list, though sometimes maturity was just a spiritual enlightenment she wasn't willing to reach and grasp.

As the creepy janitor man vanished in the blink of an eye, Bo turned around, expecting to see Tamsin somewhere in the vicinity, as the place was a familiar one; the Dal. “So, where do we... start?” Quickly scoping out the Dal with her gaze after she trailed off, she realized the valkyrie was nowhere to be seen. “Tamsin?”

“Yup,” The voice, although distinctively familiar, was apparently not attached to a body.

“Where are you? This isn't the time to play hide and seek.”

“Sir, yes sir!” Popping up from behind the bar, Tamsin graced the irritated brunette with a good old fashion military salute.

“What are you doing?”

“Examining the...” Looking down at the bar underneath her hand, she drummed her fingers on the surface of it. She raised both of her eyebrows, eying Bo with a forced smile. “Wood. Yes, it's very good... wood. Not unusual at all.”

“Are you gonna help me or not, Tamsin? Don't make me regret this decision.” Bo really thought of wishing for Dyson to be her hand instead.

Rolling her eyes, Tamsin stepped from behind the bar and advanced towards the door that would usually lead them outside in to the back alleyway. “Come on then, White Rabbit. Let's see how far the rabbit hole goes down.” Opening it, she motioned with her hand fro the succubus to take point. “After you, oh great seductress.”

Brows furrowed, Bo stood in front of the taller blonde, just before the opening of the door. “Are you drunk?”

With a smirk tugging the corner of her lips, Tamsin made a show of pretending to mull over the question; as if she would tell the succubus she had gotten completely wasted the night before, and she cocked her head sideways. “Go,” She said, giving Bo a slight shove forward, chuckling as she followed close behind.

That was, however, until Tamsin was suddenly standing in Lauren's apartment, without the succubus by her side.

Dressed in blue scrubs, the Icelandic blonde closed the door behind her, a warm smile spreading across her lips as her soft green eyes landed on her beautiful wife, whom still had her badge and handgun clipped against her hip as she stood next to the island.

“How was work, babe?” Tamsin asked as she came in the door, a manilla folder placed in the crook of her arm.

“Exhausting and busy,” Lauren supplied, looking over to the doctor's scrubs before continuing, “We had this case, some girl named McKenzie, she was a tough one. No father figure, the mother's a crazed gypsy, and she's on the run from some bad people that'd make Al Capone seem like a schoolyard bully.”

“You shouldn't work yourself so hard.” Tamsin put down her folder onto her research desk and came over to her wife. Placing her arms around her midsection, Tamsin said, “I'm sure you're going to solve the case, you always do, my detective.”

Lauren smirked down at her and gave the doctor a soft kiss. “Have you been taking your pills?” The detective saw her wife's eyes shift back and forth uneasily, and the woman disengaged from her and said, “Tamsin, you know you're supposed to be taking them, you know how you get without them.”

“They make my head... different. I don't like them.”

“They make you think clearer, doc.”

“What is 'clearer' anyways?” Tamsin asked, trying not to hide her growing discomfort in the route the conversation had taken. “What kind of relationship will this be if I'm so drugged up all the time I can't think straight?”

“You say that now, but I promise you, you are so much better when-”

“Better!” Tamsin fumed at the words, words that said she wasn't great when she was off a drug she had prescribed herself to ease her wife's worry. She wasn't in the habit of getting angry at her wife, why would she, but that stuck a little too deeply. “I'm a doped up zombie when I'm on the drugs. When I'm off, I'm clear headed like I've always been.”

“Okay, okay, shh,” Lauren soothed, coming over and placing her hands around her wife's shoulders. Looking into her eyes she whispered, “I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have said that. I just want you to be okay, doc. That's all I want.”

Tamsin sighed and bent her head onto her wife's chest. Feeling her heartbeat for a few moments she said, “I know, I'm sorry. This is supposed to be a good day.”

Remembering what the day entitled, Lauren smiled as she put her chin on top of Tamsin's head just like the doctor loved it when the taller woman did. “Yeah, the most important day of our lives.”

The couple looked into each other's eyes and said simultaneously, “Our second year anniversary!” The women smiled and kissed passionately with the weight of the words they had just spoken. It was supposed to be a special day and there was nothing Tamsin was going to do to ruin it, even if she didn't mean to. Lauren had the same mindset, she had more trouble keeping her mouth shut with snarky comments, and she picked Tamsin up and spun her around by the waist.

After the giggling fit and many half complaints from the shorter woman, Lauren finally put her down and said, “I'm going to go freshen up. I am taking you somewhere extra special tonight, doc.”

“Oh?”

“Mhmm, and you're going to love it. I can be mushy when I want to be, you know.” Winking at her wife, she scooted past her and smacked her on the ass playfully. Smiling devilishly at the surprised gasp her doctor made, she walked up the stairs to the living area and the shower.

Looking down at her hands, and the way they quivered slightly, Tamsin smiled and sighed as she thought of the surprise Lauren had in store for her. The detective really could be mushy, nice, and loving when she wanted to be and the doctor was glad today was a requirement to be all three. Placing her index knuckle between her teeth and biting down slightly in thought, she began to ascend the stairs, a smile playing on her lips.

Just as she got to the top of the living area, just as before, Tamsin found herself over the dead and dying at her feet. Her thoughts, her apparel, even her hair had changed to fit the era she had been suddenly transported to.

A forest spread vastly around her, and her ancient sword was thrust into the belly of the opposing soldier. Raising it swiftly and flicking it to the side, to dispose of the wet blood that marked along the edge of the blade, her brilliant green eyes cascaded slowly throughout the battle area. She was read to turn and join her comrade in the next clearing, but she turned her head sharply as she spotted something running through the trees.

A trail of yellow hair.

The warrior quickly gripped her sword tighter as she began to run off towards the sight, her eyes never breaking contact with her enemy. Her breath never grew heavy and soon she was standing at the corner of a small river, her target seemingly gone. Looking around slowly, the warrior raised an eyebrow and descended upon the river, her hand outstretched to the cooling waters to refresh herself from the slaying she had previously finished.

“Ah, ah, ah,” A beautiful voice said from behind the warrior as something cold and metallic crossed the edge of her jaw line and throat. “Stand, Spartan, or die with my blade through your throat.”

The warrior did as commanded, albeit slowly, and turned. Looking at the woman opposing her's armor did little to dissuade the Spartan, as she saw if she wanted, there would be nothing to protect her enemy from a well placed spear to any part of her body. Leather didn't protect anyone very well.

The warrior clad woman's hair was dazzling yellow and her eyes were luscious brown. She looked scared, no doubt from the Spartan's stature and meaning, but hid it well with little shaking of her hand as she held it out; sword in hand.

“How are you a woman?” The armor clad female asked, her eyes darting down to the fine armor the green eyed woman wore, and back to her eyes.

“How are _you_ a woman in the Athenian army,” The warrior challenged.

“I'll be asking the questions here.”

“Yes, you shall. But, if you'd permit me, why is it that you have let me live and not skewered me on the spot? You had the advantage of luring me to this cooling ποτάμι*, you could have killed me immediately. Why do you hesitate?" Even the Spartan couldn't answer the question herself, there was a tightness in her chest which she couldn't quite explain, nor had she ever felt whilst spilling Athenian blood.

Her speech was hushed as the Athenian broke the warrior from her thoughts and said, "Your eyes... they are unlike any I have ever seen. They are murderous and yet they are kind. How does a Spartan, a murderer above all else, accomplish this?"

Smirking, the Spartan shifted in her heavy armor, her muscles bulging and glistening at the weight, and the plates shifting and clanking together as they readjusted themselves to her new position. "Why ask such questions when I am but a blood thirsty murderer? Are you not afraid, Athenian? Afraid that I will be the last thing you will ever see?"

"You are not like the others, I-I can see it. Spare my life and you shall never see me again. I beg of you." She could see the fight the warrior was having with herself in that very moment; her piercing green eyes intensely boring into her own brown ones. "You do not wish to harm me, if you had wanted to, I would have been tainting the river with my blood long ago."

"Do not speak of that which you know nothing!" The Spartan seethed, suddenly angry by the female's words opposing her. She was indifferent to most things in the world, but there were only a select few that she simply hated. Individuals thinking they knew exactly who and what she was happened to be on the top of her 'most hated' list.

"You know, in your soul, that I speak the truth."

The fingers curled around the hilt of her blade, tightening, and the Spartan's arm shook with indecisiveness. The anger inside of her wished to simply kill the blonde for being able to read the warrior as if she had known her all her life, while a part of her longed to save her. Decisions were made hard when answers were not possessed by the individual.

_You're a valkyrie, why in Odin's name are you letting this wench make you doubt your own self?_

"Please, please my name is Laurentia. My son, my daughter, they are waiting for me to return home. I was only scavenging for the herb they needed as they are deafly ill. I have no quarrel with you, Spartan. Allow me home to those I love, my partner and my children, and you will never see my face again. I give you my sacred vow, Spartan."

The Athenian's words were made hollow when a very handsome and burly man's voice came from opposite them across the river, "Milady Thomisina, do you require assistance!"

"Have you forgotten whom you are addressing, Dyonisius? How dare you interrupt us; go, help your brethren. I am more than capable of handling this-" The Spartan painfully swallowed the rest of her words as the seemingly harmless blonde warrior's short sword pierced flesh and muscle tissues just above Thomisina's collar bone. Laurentia escaped her grasp, gasping as she began to run as fast as her leather armor would let her.

Yanking the sharp blade out without any hindrance from the trickle of blood spurting from the wound, the fuming valkyrie let out a ferocious growl and ran after the Athenian warrior. Finding her quickly, even if the golden haired woman ran through her own forest, the Spartan could run ten times the speed in her heavy armor than any woman alive in that time period. A armor-clad hand gripped Laurentia's wrist, barely registering the gasp of pain and fear, swiftly turning her around before gripping the woman's neck tightly.

She spoke harshly, venom coating her words as they spilled out from her gritted teeth, "Look into my eyes, Athenian," From emerald green to an eerie black, Thomisina revealed her true face from the guise of flesh and blood, "they are the only thing you shall remember in this life, and in death." With a quick and effortless motion, the edge of her blade created a perfectly perpendicular slit across the woman's throat. Crimson liquid coated the blade as droplets of blood painted Thomisina's face red, along with her armor and boots.

The golden haired warrior's now lifeless body crumpled by Thomisina's feet like an old disheveled rag. Sheathing her sword, her eyes watched as the Athenian's blood freely flowed from the gash on her throat onto the leafy and dirt ground. The tightness in her chest was suddenly back and she could not understand why. She felt no remorse, nor grief or kinship, though something about this moment felt wrong and out of place.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as her lieutenant came running behind her. His greeves were soaked through with water, and his boots were damp. "I see you had everything under control, Milady." Dyonisius' sarcastic taunts always succeeded in irking the blonde woman.

"Your mother is a cow, and your father is a pig; what does this make you?" Thomisina, without waiting for the answer, went on to reply to her question, "A beetle-headed scullion whom smells of a wet dog." A few moments passed as she looked daringly at her subordinate and said, "What are you looking at? Get back to the battle or be cut down here! And trust me," Tamsin said, glaring at the man, "you should not wish to give me the satisfaction."

The man snorted unimpressed with the captain's use of her vocabulary, but did as he was told, rushing off back towards the river, his tail tucked between his legs to join his brothers in the fight, leaving Thomisina alone with the dead body of the blonde. Looking back towards the woman, the warrior lowered her head and quickly shook it side to side, trying to clear her mind of the woman's words to her. It was not every day someone, especially an enemy, said such things about her eyes or her emotions.

Turning slowly away from the corpse, Thomisina would have followed in her subordinate's footsteps and join the battle in the next canyon; but she stopped suddenly as a familiar and cold feeling crept into her heart. Looking up towards the trees, then back to peer at the ground, the valkyrie saw their colors shift and change as she perceived them. Something was casting unnatural light upon them and she knew, if only for a moment, that she was the only one who could see the blinding color exuding from the pores of her surroundings.

It wasn't customary for valkyries to take out their own mark. It rarely happened, but in such vast wars, not all chaos could be controlled, and she briefly wondered why, out of all the warriors in the field of battle, why was she allowed to _talk_ to her own mark. Her armor-clad feet tapped the dirt under the pressure and weight with every step she took. Thomisina slowly bent down, hand on the hilt of her sword, pushing it upwards so it wouldn't get stuck in the ground as she rested one knee beside the fallen warrior. Her motions were mechanical, as if her body had suddenly been turned to autopilot.

The familiarity of the ritual made it seem so mundane, but something about the woman still troubled the valkyrie. Her hand hovered over Laurentia's chest, a brighter light shone around it, before she brought it down through the armor and through flesh. Another spurt of bright light flashed all around her hand, and the warrior's chest, as she tugged on something. If the valkyrie hadn't been so used to the ritual taught to her long ago, she would have thought the warrior's rose colored cheeks claimed the woman to still be living, that she would wake up any moment to scream and shout to the valkyrie to secure her hand from her chest. But that wouldn't happen, Thomisina thought, as she gave one last tug. Quite literally, the valkyrie separated the Athenian's soul from her corporeal form and as she held her ghost like hand, Thomisina pulled her up to her feet gently and kindly; forgetting for a moment of her vileness in the wake of the woman just moments before.

"Who are you? Where am I?" A ghostly whisper of a question.

"I'm here to take you home, warrior."

"Why? W-" Looking frantic, the Athenian looked at her own lifeless body, which she was standing over. “What happened?”

“If it is less of a burden for you, Milady, you perished with great honor.” The valkyrie's green eyes seemed to dim as she talked to the ghostly apparition and she held tightly to the woman's spectral hand.

“I do not understand, if I am dead...”

“Great warriors should never have to die, yet you all carry around this mortal body. As it is, casualty is inevitable.” Thomisina had glanced down at the woman's frail carcass with disdain, forgetting for a moment she was made to be placed in the same weak thing. “Now that you've been relieved of it, your soul shall live eternally as the soldier you were meant to be, with others such as yourself.”

“Then I am being ferried to the Fields of Elysium?”

The valkyrie smirked, forgetting her place among the woman's beliefs, “A field of sorts, yes warrior. This, I promise you.”

The Athenian nodded and looked down at her own lifeless body. “My... body will be ransacked if left here. Will you-” The woman looked up into green eyes, her question left on her lips. A small, very small, smile lifted her lips when the valkyrie nodded her head, telling her that the warriors of Athens would be among the dead in just a few hours. Her body would be taken to her family, the family in which Laurentia did not remember, and her soul would be given justly rites.

The taller blonde pulled the woman against her, one arm around her waist, as she bent her head until her lips brushed against the blonde's ear and whispered, “Close your eyes.” When the woman did, the valkyrie looked up at the sky just in time to see the cylinder of light descend from the heavens straight towards them. Tilting her head down, she rested one hand on the back of the fallen warrior's head, shielding them both from the oncoming impact and the witnessing of the twisted things in the sky that even the valkyrie dared not look upon.

A loud crack of thunder shook the ground as the blinding flash engulfed them both before disappearing with both women, leaving nothing but a massive hole in the ground from where they stood.

+++

_Something wasn't right... something..._

Tamsin looked around her as she came to her senses; she found herself in a familiar green and vibrant place, though mist covered almost every crevice. She felt something on her back, something heavy yet light-weight, something she knew she had cut off to get to the Earthen plane; things that shouldn't be there.

_What the hell was going on?_

Looking down, she saw she held a petite form in her arms, and she gasped when she saw solemn brown eyes slowly look up towards her. This wasn't happening, this could not have been happening.

“Lauren?”

“Are these the ancient fields? Will my brethren and family be here?” The woman asked, her voice sounding strange to Tamsin's ears as they spoke the ancient dialect. It took the valkyrie a moment to translate what the woman had asked her, but when she did she couldn't help the thoughts cascade over her mind.

Tamsin's breath came in strained breathes as she looked down at the woman. What had she done? A small healed mark swept across the shorter woman's throat and Tamsin knew immediately that she had made it; knew she had sliced open her lover's throat for some forbidden reason, for the reason she perceived would be the only known fact the blonde would die in the future: because of their forbidden relationship.

This wasn't happening. This could not be happening.

“I have to get you out of here. I have to get you-” Tamsin's words were cut off as she felt the familiar presence come from a far away building that looked like a stone and wooden mansion. A building that was so well hidden, but if one would peer into the seemingly endless mist, they could see a tall man standing at the steps of them, basins of fire standing beside him to lead to the great hall. A wizened man with a broad white beard, and soft brown eyes that could turn to cruel in a snap of the fingers. Tamsin tried to shield the darker blonde with her body, her wings shot out beside her, making Lauren invisible to Tamsin's master's eyes. “Please,” she begged, “please, she doesn't belong here. Our infraction is not against your laws, she should not be here.”

The man's eyes, who seemed to pierce through the mist right into Tamsin's eyes, said not a word before raising a twisted and gnarled walking stick into the air slowly. The valkyrie's face contorted into a silent scream, but it was useless as the man brought the cane down sharp and hard into the building's wooden floorboards. Tamsin's wings immediately retracted to her body at her master's command, and she could do nothing as the man called out with a warm and welcoming voice to the darker blonde.

“Welcome home, great warrior!”

Tamsin could almost feel Lauren's smile behind her; the sweet blonde's ignorant, beautiful, amazing smile. “She doesn't belong here,” The valkyrie whispered, her heart constricting in her chest as she saw Lauren out of the corner of her eye, for she could not move her head from the binding spell her master had descended upon her, beginning to walk towards the building. “She doesn't belong here!” The weight pressing down on her chest grew with every panicked shout as the spell tore through her muscles, disallowing her to call to her master, making it hard for her to breathe. “This isn't happening,” She whispered instead, barely moving her jaw as a tear passed down her face from the strain, “no, no, no. This isn't real!”

Lauren was almost to the building doors; Tamsin's master put a comforting, gigantic hand on the blonde's small shoulder and smiled down as the woman smiled up. She would be through the doors and lost to Tamsin forever if she didn't move now. She had to break free, she had to get the blonde out of there or she would be lost to the valkyrie forever.

She shouted one more symphony of pleas, and just as she thought her heart would explode from the spell cast upon her, her master finally released her, his walking stick waving through the air as he walked toward the doors of the building. The valkyrie fell to her hands and knees and immediately got up without any thought of the pain that washed over her, her legs moving her towards the building, towards the blonde. If she could just grab hold of her, just get her to real safety and not what her master was offering, get her _out_ , everything would be fine. Tamsin's penance would be paid in full.

The Icelandic blonde was almost to the building, almost to Lauren, almost to her lover. Her arm outstretched, she ran faster, harder as Lauren, with her master's help, turned away from the frantic valkyrie, walking into the great hall. Tamsin screamed Lauren's name just as the human passed the doors, and her heart seemed to finally explode as Lauren turned and smiled; smiled such a heartbreaking sad, yet filled with love and hope, smile that Tamsin couldn't stand.

“No!” Tamsin screamed as the doors shut quickly behind the blonde, and she found she could not stop her momentum- as if she wanted to- and her fists and body hit the powerfully sturdy doors with a hard smack. The valkyrie knew if there were any other set of doors, they would be blown inward at her flurry of misguided assaults. Tamsin pounded the doors, her skin broke apart and she felt them stinging and destroyed from her outbursts, her voice growing hoarse, her blood covering the small indents of the door where she hit.

She had to get Lauren out, nothing else mattered, if she could just get the human out before she ate anything maybe then...

“This isn't real,” Tamsin repeated again, her poundings never ceasing, “This isn't' real! This isn't real!” She gutturally screamed, one final time, as she slid down the wooden wall, her bloodied hands caressed to her chest. “Please give her back; this isn't real... not real.” She didn't know what she was saying any longer as grief took over her mind, hot tears running down her cheeks, as she placed her back onto the door. Her penance would never be paid, and the valkyrie would now be alone... forever.

Her wings encased her as she cried, for the second or third time that month she couldn't' remember, and Tamsin hadn't realized her reality changed around her until she heard a familiar succubus' shouts and a hard, ripping sensation through her chest where her heart rested.

As the air around her changed, a familiar smell invaded her sense; a smell of honeysuckle and vanilla. She felt safe, at peace even, in the wake of the atmosphere. Tamsin didn't need to pen her eyes to know she was in the doctor's bedroom. Her pain, even her fear, seemed to fade as she put her hand comfortingly on the small framed one that was holding something in the valkyrie's chest; her eyes trailing down to look at it wonderingly. Such beautiful... familiar hands. Without the added weight of her armor and her wings, the valkyrie felt light, as if she was being lulled into a deep peaceful sleep.

The agonizing pain didn't register until her eyes perceived the shiny blade jutting out of her chest after witnessing the familiar hands. Her own blood pooled all around the wound, thickly coating her white, silk, buttoned down shirt.

Tamsin took in a quick intake of breath, causing the sharp metal dagger to twist and tear at her flesh even more. The pain in her torso was nearly unbearable, the blonde could literally feel her heart straining and slowing down as blood invaded her lungs. She had never experienced such an excruciating and mortal wound, but as emerald eyes, wet with tears, gazed up into frightened and stunned brown orbs, nothing could ever compare to the sudden rush of happiness flowing through her every nerve. A weak and soft smile appeared on her lips as she squeezed the hand underneath her own, tracing circles with her thumb over the top of it.

Opening her mouth to speak, a sudden gush of warm blood filled her throat and spilled out the sides of her lips, chocking back her thoughts, not not permanently. “If I ever knew h-happiness existed, I never cared, never wanted to feel it... until I met you. Thank you for that...”

Tamsin tried to raise her right, fallen hand up towards her lover's face, but the movement seemed to do nothing but cause another surge of blood to be coughed from her lips. Before she could feel the warmth of the doctor's face, Tamsin felt her body falling towards the ground, her head smacking against it first, hard as the side of her body followed. Sadly, she felt the blonde's hand leave her, as she let go of the blade hilt protruding from the valkyrie's chest. Tamsin felt suddenly empty when the hand left her, and as she lay on the cold ground, she felt alone. Like she had been all those centuries before Lauren, the simple fragile human Lauren, entered her life. Simply alone.

Coughing up another lungful of blood, time seemed to begin moving at the appropriate speed than the slowness of the encounter with the doctor, and Tamsin felt the succubus' hands warp around her shoulder, her screams piercing her ears.

“C-calm down,” Tamsin choked out, her blood coating her tongue with it's metallic taste as she spoke, “it's not as bad as it looks.” She tried to laugh but it quickly failed her.

“Just- don't- don't move! Okay, just don't move! I can get us out, I know how. Just- hold on.” Bo's movements through Tamsin's blood, making a symbol of some kind, was interrupted suddenly as the old man from the beginning walked in from the doorway that led to the doctor's bathroom, and swatted the succubus away from the valkyrie.

“Only one may leave,” he said, looking down at Tamsin, a wicked smile playing on his lips. “This creature is now mine.” Bending, the Caretaker took Tamsin's wrist in hand and began to drag her to the door he had walked in from earlier, that should have led to Lauren's bathroom. But this was the Temple, and doors were proven to be gateways instead of natural things.

Bo moved across the room in a blink of the eye, ready to capture the valkyrie's hand and press her own in the blood that seemed to swirl with blues and greens of a portal, but she stopped just as she reached the opened gateway as Tamsin had raised a hand painfully.

“Tell Lauren... the real Lauren... oh hell, she knows doesn't she?”

As her own tears of hopelessness, and anger toward herself to not have saved the Icelandic blonde, wet her cheeks, the brunette used all her strength to keep the small smile on her face as she whispered gently, “She'd be crazy not to, babe.”

Bo was rewarded with a half grin from Tamsin's bloodied lips, her tears were dried now, as she was taken away by the Caretaker.

The valkyrie's eyes never leaving the succubus' as the door slowly closed to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * ποτάμι means "River" in Greek.  
> Phew, that was a heart-wrenching chapter, no? ;) Hope you all enjoyed.


	11. Deceitfulness

Lauren had been sitting in the Dal the entire time Bo and Tamsin had been in the Dawning. It felt like days, but she knew it could have only been a few hours at the most. Dyson had gone off in a corner somewhere after speaking to her, trying to calm her as he repeated over and over again how Tamsin was in no real danger. The more he talked, however, the more Lauren felt the complete opposite of what he was trying to convey, and soon she stopped speaking all together and simply nodded her head after the shifter would stop for a breath. Dyson had put a comforting hand on her shoulder and left her to her silence soon after that. He was trying to be nice, trying to be hopeful for Lauren, but it did little to calm the doctor's shouting mind and heart. There was too much uncertainty in the air, and she wondered if Tamsin, even Bo, would really make it back to her in one piece.

The blonde watched as Kenzi had gone to talk to Trick for the first portion of the wait, her brown eyes following the gypsy girl as Dyson spoke in her ear, and Lauren smiled kindly as the girl had sauntered back over to the blonde after their talk. If not all of their conversation was about Kenzi's inquiring mind on asking Lauren of how she could unfreeze Tamsin's cold, bitchy, and sarcastic exterior and the good doctor replied with a smile and a shrug; her hair grazing her shoulders as she shook her head slightly.

In truth, the blonde didn't know what she could have ever done to have Tamsin fall for her so rapidly; all she knew was that the valkyrie did. They were practically the exact same person, Lauren knew, they had the same soul. They had gone through the same struggles in life: not being good enough though they tried their very best, being in indentured servitude to a cruel and callused master, the way they coped with these events were the only things that were different about the two women. While Tamsin would defend with sarcastic quips and anger, Lauren would be more passive aggressive, less likely for confrontation. The doctor didn't have to hide how destroyed she really was in front of the valkyrie, and likewise Tamsin didn't have to hide in front of Lauren. They were two peas in the same pod, they were simply set to a boil to someone else's song and tune. How hard was it really to fall for someone who was so close to the person you were?

The note Tamsin had left in her room the night before still played through Lauren's mind, and she wondered if the valkyrie was finally beginning to allow herself to- maybe, just maybe- fall _in love_ with the human. Lauren had to restrain a smile at the foolish notion; as if Tamsin would really fall in love with someone like the doctor, please! Lauren was too weak while the valkyrie was too crass and incapable of an emotion as strong as being in love. However, Lauren thought, they had both lost something in their lives equally, and they could both accommodate each other for what they had lost. The valkyrie would give Lauren the attention she needed, and wouldn't run away when she needed her most, while Lauren would give the fae sentimentality that she would never forget. They would be a perfect couple, if they just gave each other the chance, and God did Lauren give so many chances.

All the ridiculous valkyrie had to do was just come back to her alive and their relationship that had finally started the night before could continue.

Instead of thinking about this, she tried to listen to Kenzi's talk about how she would treat Bo to an enticing dinner of pizza and burgers, and asked what Lauren would do for Tamsin.

Kenzi was nice, Lauren had to admit, after their bonding moment a few weeks prior. The gypsy girl actually began to seek out Lauren's advice and camaraderie, and the blonde was happy to help in whatever mess Kenzi and Bo had gotten into. She had put off her own problems- problems being Tamsin and her avoidance- and had helped any way she could with the slue of cases the partner's would collect. Lauren had been grateful for the distractions, and was even more so when Kenzi had tried her best to keep Bo out of the loop as much as possible, without lying of course, so that Lauren, and the succubus, wouldn't have to be caused unintentional pain towards each other.

The blonde had been glad to have Kenzi on her “side” in the relationship status with Tamsin and she knew Bo, though she hated it, was still accepting of their partnership. Though it was tenuous, Lauren was glad for the peace between the women, and she thought- for once- her life was really looking up. God only knew the last few years of her life hadn't been the best, and she was thankful that Tamsin had come into it; even for the short amount of time she had been there.

The two chatting females were broken out of their talk, it had progressed to the two's cases they were working on individually, when the light blue swirling texture of the portal filled the end of the room with light. Lauren was so relieved, so happy, that it had finally appeared, that it was all she had to contain her excitement of her lover's form appearing.

Bo fell to the familiar floor of the Dal Riata, her forearms and knees breaking her fall oh so nicely, as she came out of the portal to the Temple. She half expected to have suddenly appeared instead of a main entrance like that, but she couldn't much think about it right in that moment.

Looking up, her face unsullied by the streams of tears she had just shed in the Temple, she looked around slowly and her eyes only rested on Lauren. The blonde woman seemed hopeful, happy even, that Bo was out of her Dawning and not drooling on herself from turning underfae, but her excitement and hopeful gaze turned to confusion as the portal closed behind the brunette. The room was completely silent as Bo slowly got to her feet.

“Bo,” Lauren asked, coming a step closer and licking her lips before continuing, her voice trying to reach the octave it always did when she didn't understand, the ghost of a smile still trying to penetrate her lips and eyes, “where's Tamsin? Bo... where is Tamsin?”

“I'm sorry, Lauren.” Bo's voice was raspy with bridled tears as she whispered, “She-she wanted me to tell you she-”

“No,” Lauren cut the brunette off suddenly, her finger in the air as her eyes shown constrained bewilderment, “no, where is she, Bo? Tell me where she is.”

Bo swiped her upper lip with her index finger and said, “She's still in there, Lauren. She's still in whatever place the Dawning is held.” Her eyes never left the blonde's when she continued, trying to lower her voice to not sound needy in this time of grief, “I didn't know, Lauren. I didn't know when I went in that only one could come out. She... she sacrificed herself so that I could make it out of the Temple. So that I could make it back here, to you; to all of you.” The brunette finally looked around the room, her brown eyes glancing over the fae and human alike.

“What are you talking about?” Lauren whirled on Trick quickly, not wanting to look at Bo any longer as her gut wrenched and threatened to explode, “You can get her out, can't you? Get her out of there, Trick. Now!”

“I'm sorry,” the man said, his arms coming up and falling back uselessly at his sides, “it doesn't work like that.”

“The valkyrie knew what she was getting into when she offered herself as Bo's hand. She knew the consequences,” the woman standing beside Trick said; Lauren briefly remembered her name to be Stella. “Besides, the girl is dark fae is she not? It is my assumption none of you so cared for her well being enough to risk your lives for her.” Cold calculating eyes fell across everyone in the room and back towards Lauren. “Bo is free of the thralls of devolution and is back in your arms; this is a most fortuitous even that must be celebrated.”

Whether it was fury of her own from being lied to yet again, or her anger towards Tamsin for doing something so stupid, she didn't know, but she locked cross-hairs on Stella and said hotly, “I don't care what synapses were firing when she chose she would decide that, but I didn't know the risks and Bo didn't either. So that train of thought can be forgotten right now! She may be dark but everyone in this room cared for her, as a person, so you can shut your mouth.” Lauren knew her words were probably hollow; the only people in the bar that cared for Tamsin was Lauren herself and the valkyrie's partner.

Her eyes flashed with rage at the woman's words, that Tamsin meant nothing now that Bo was back safely, and she continued, “You should have said something if you knew, Trick. You should have told Bo the risks when she was made to choose to accept Tamsin's offer. It is _your_ fault she is in there and you _will_ bring her back to me, now!” It was the first time in her life of servitude that Lauren the Human had given an older, if not any, fae orders. What was she thinking? Was she even thinking?

“Doc...” Kenzi came over and tried to put a comforting hand onto Lauren's shoulder, but the blonde brushed her away immediately.

“Don't,” She warned, glaring back at Kenzi, and the girl gratefully backed away as her eyes traveled to the floor. Lauren felt a twinge of regret, of guilt, but shook it off as she glared back towards Trick and Stella. She couldn't afford such emotions at that very moment, all that mattered was Tamsin, all that mattered was _her_ lover. “You bring her back. You bring her back right now or you send me in there to find her. I know you can do it, Trick, so you send me in there now.

“Lauren!” Bo, Kenzi, and Trick yelled simultaneously, unaware how the human's feelings were so deep for the valkyrie, and the woman glared at all of them in turn.

She was trying to hold back as her breath came in rasps, making small whimpering sounds as she knew she did when she was about to cry, refusing the tears to come, but they squeezed from her eyes hot against her cheeks without permission anyways. Tears were useless in this situation, useless because of the ignorant, stupid, hurtful, secretive fae in the room that kept everything from her. Kept things that she had wanted to know, that she had _needed_ to know, that Bo, Tamsin, even Kenzi _should_ have known.

And now Tamsin was gone, she was trapped in a realm that God only knew what was being done to her, and for what? Because the one most oldest fae in the room wanted to keep himself from being the center of attention, because if that happened Lauren knew, then all of his dirty secrets would come to light. How he knew all of the things he did, all of the truths and secrets he was hiding behind his innocent persona.

Anger bubbled up inside her, maybe at Tamsin for being the one to offer herself, most likely at Trick and the other fae that knew what would happen if the valkyrie offered herself to be Bo's assistance. She didn't know and she didn't care.

“You bring her back,” Lauren repeated, her eyes trailing over all the participants in the room, refusing to look for too long into Bo's brown concerned eyes.

“Please,” Bo said, coming closer and holding out her arms to the blonde.

“No!” She fumed, stepping away from Bo and hitting the woman's outstretched arms with her hand. “No, you don't get to do that. You find a way to get Tamsin back, do you hear me? Do you understand me, Bo! Get her back, get her back, please, just get her back to me.” Lauren's words were drowned out by her own sobs as she fell to the ground, Bo helping her along the way. Lauren hated this, hated the comfort her ex lover could offer her, she didn't want to be in the succubus' arms, she wanted to be in the valkyrie's. Still, she thought as she let the sobs rack her body, still Bo's touch felt nice. Comforting. Familiar.

Her hands pressed against the side of Lauren's face, trying to allow the woman some comfort, but the blonde wouldn't take it, she _couldn't_ take it. She kept fighting the brunette, trying to escape her gasp as she cried, disallowing herself to be captured by the brunette's love again. She did not calm herself, and allow herself to fully weep in front of the fae and human in the room- their eyes darting this way and that as they tried to give Lauren some type of privacy with her emotions- until the only person who had not spoken once since the portal opened and closed came over and took her away from Bo.

“Please bring her back, Dyson. I just got her again, please get her-” Lauren's words were chocked back from her uncontrollable sobbing and Dyson pressed her head into his chest comfortingly.

“I'll get her back, Lauren.” Dyson's solemn baritone voice resounded throughout the Dal Riata with sincerity and determination, “I promise I will get her back to you.”

+++

The frail looking man waved a shriveled hand and suddenly a small chair, and table, materialized in front of him. Sitting down with a sigh, he put his hand on the table, and looked up at the bound valkyrie opposing him. The woman had been putting up quite a fight, working against her metal-like restraints that held her wrists and ankles, and blood trailed down from the opened cuts to her upper chest and down the sides of her shirt; to come to rest and drip down her bare feet to the white ground. The Caretaker would have simply made her restraints that of tightened barbed wire, but he grew tired of bringing the valkyrie back from near death from her incessant need to work at the restrains and accidentally cut open a vein. It would be no fun if his new plaything experienced true death on him so soon.

It wasn't that the Caretaker wished to be evil, he wasn't like the Undertaker- his damned brother-, but he didn't want to be alone any longer. It was a painful job, being stuck in the plane in which the Dawning was held after offering himself as his lover's hand, and he wished to be free of it. He was alone for eternity, unless of course a fae came age for their Dawning, but even then they left him soon enough. The valkyrie was proving to be a fun little morsel and even her blurred and hitching speech she would give near death was admirable.

He knew he had chosen wisely in capturing her, thin wisps of the valkyrie entering the Dawning plane centuries ago nipped at his mind, and he enjoyed the way the warrior would speak of her lover. The way she would get the realities confused from blood loss, believe the human was there with her, or even when she'd grow cold and curse the Caretaker, begging him not to bring her lover there to torture her as well. It made no difference, the Caretaker had power, but only in that plane. He couldn't very well reach up and grab the human, though he thought of it constantly, but kept his mouth shut when the valkyrie would start to scream.

“Lauren, she's... if you hurt her, I'll rip off your flesh and bask in your blood.”

The Caretaker rolled his eyes and conjured a bowl of grapes next to his palm. Eating one, though the man did not need to eat as it tasted nothing but ashen, he said, “If you keep speaking like that, dear Valkyrie, I will have to skewer your stomach again.” He had to give her credit, she didn't flinch, she only raised her head to look at him with death and disobedience in her eyes. Her green ones reminded him of his lover long ag- that was the only thing he could remember of her- and he sighed with contempt. He grew weary of this game and he wanted the valkyrie to act just a little differently. Either it was threats, protecting of her companion, or back to threats. Bo-o-o-ring.

The valkyrie's blonde hair fell into her face as she continued to stare at the frail man and said, “When I get down from here, I will kill you.”

“You are a dying valkyrie, you should not have even been able to be captured by me, yet here we are.” The Caretaker laughed, his words seeming to sting what mind the valkyrie had left. “Why is that, hm? You could have phased out of this plane when you acquired her memory, and yet you didn't. Why? You are not weak enough that you couldn't accomplish that much. The only thing keeping you here now, as you well know, are those shackles.” He pointed at the cuffs holding the valkyrie's wrists and ankles. “So why did you give up your life for that of the succubus?”

“Do you really want to know?” Her arms groaned behind her as she pushed off of the metal crucifix-like pole, looking into the Caretaker's eyes.

“Yes.”

The valkyrie smirked, a smirk that she had forgotten she could muster from the deaths she had perceived in the plane, and said, “Well keep guessing, asswipe.”

The Caretaker's eyes slit, his patience running thin, and he waved his hand in the air. A long spear, it's head jagged and sharp like broken glass, appeared in the air pointing straight at the valkyrie.

“Last chance,” The man said as he eyed the spear above him with amusement. “Sate this curiosity and you may rest.”

The valkyrie looked up at the spear and back at the man, her eyes shown nothing of fear, and she said, “Guess we're going to be here for awhile.”

The Caretaker's eyes widened in anger and he let the spear fly straight and true towards the valkyrie.

And the blood and screams began again.

+++

The cabbie turned the corner into the lot of a very large pristine building. He was irritated as the building was almost the complete opposite of town where had had picked up the blonde woman sitting behind him. But whatever, he thought, at least he was getting paid; and the view wasn't half bad, he thought as he looked back in his rear view mirror to watch the blonde woman from time to time. He glanced sidelong as the woman got out of his cab and looked up at the building with awe, she must have never been there before, or if she had it had been awhile, and she turned slowly as he rolled down his window.

“What do I owe you?” She asked politely, her hair whipping across her face as she bent down a ways to look inside the car.

The cabbie, instead of looking at her cleavage that was showing out of her blue shirt and dark jacket when she bent, looked over to his machine and said, “I'll round it down for ya, cutie.” He winked up towards the blonde and, after she didn't respond, said, “It'll be fifty.”

The blonde took out a freshly clipped roll of cash from her pocket and gave it to the cab driver. “That's fifty five, the actual cab fare, for you.”

“Take the cab often?” The cabbie asked dumbstruck, wondering how much the woman must have really taken cabs around the city to know exactly how much she would have needed to pay to get to a certain area.

“You have no idea. Thank you again,” The blonde said, turning away.

“Hey, can I get your number? You know, if you need a cab at any time.”

The woman turned, smiled halfheartedly, and said, “While your face is pretty symmetrical, and you show a nice sign of having almost perfect follicles, you would be the epitome, and excellent test subject, in the male society. However, I will have to politely decline your offer.”

“Uh... what?”

“No,” The blonde said, “thank you.” She smiled again and watched as the cabbie groaned softly, said something along the lines of “I can never tell when they're lesbians”, rolled up his window, and drove off without another look behind him.

Sighing, she looked back up towards the building again, and wondered if she should really go inside. This was a big deal, a bigger deal than lying to Dyson that she would stay in the house all night and let him compile what he was going to do to get Tamsin back, and if she really did choose to go into the building, her life, maybe her affiliation with the light fae, would be put in jeopardy. But she had to get Tamsin out of the Temple, she reminded herself, as she looked towards the doors of the building. She _had_ to do this, not for herself, but for Tamsin. Steeling herself, she took a deep breath and entered the Morrigan's development.

Entering the building was easier than expected, Lauren found, as she immediately greeted by the Morrigan's personal assistance- her name was Kiki, Lauren found- who talked very chipper-like towards her as she lead them to the long row of elevators and got onto the second one. The elevator, much like the reception area when she had walked in, was just as brilliant and pristine. Lauren wondered how grand the building was but found herself being distracted again by Kiki's words.

Pressing the eleventh floor, Lauren had no idea the building was so huge, Kiki began to fill Lauren in on all of the benefits of working with the Morrigan. She must have me confused with another client that was supposed to come in today, Lauren decided as she listened to the girl adamantly. (Of course, she didn't know about the Morrigan's already known visit from the blonde, siphoned from the offspring in Lauren's bag the blonde had walked by as she entered her home.)

Finally getting to the floor they needed, Kiki stepped off quickly and Lauren followed. The long hallway they walked through was filled with extraordinary pieces of work, paintings, drawings, even sculptors and Lauren had to remind herself that the Morrigan's job was to suck the talent out of would-be artists; these must have all come from her clients. Lauren grew sad, only for a moment, at how many of the world's greatest artists had walked the very hall she walked, how many of them died too early in their career because of what the Morrigan did to them. Humans were nothing to the dark, even to the light, but playthings they could use and discard without much thought. Lauren was suddenly sick to her stomach, her mind never wandering to what Tamsin had initially thought of her from her dark upbringing, but was pulled out of her own thoughts as Kiki spoke to her.

“And here we are,” the girl said, her chipper, psychotically chipper, voice did little to rest Lauren's nerves and as she opened the door, the blonde saw the Morrigan working at her table, her head down and her elongated beautiful hands flitting across a keyboard.

Thanking the girl quickly, Lauren ducked into the room and looked around after the door closed swiftly behind her. If she wanted to escape quickly, she wondered if the door would be locked if she tried it, and found an escape attempt would probably choose futile anyway.

The Morrigan had good taste, how could she not, as Lauren looked around and saw the area was filled with classy furniture, tables, and rugs. Lauren briefly saw a tray of scotch, brandy, and other alcohol on the far side of the room, and looking to her right she saw the building was indeed on the eleventh floor. It wasn't that Lauren was afraid of heights, she had gone up on many a plane ride, but it had been a very long time she had been so high up, and she had to hold her breath for several seconds, clutching a chair's back softly, before turning back to look to the center of the room.

Looking toward the Morrigan, who had immediately stopped whatever she was working on to lean back in her chair and stare at the doctor, Lauren blushed slightly and came to stand by the chairs that sate opposing the desk a few inches away.

“Morrigan... I'm-”

“Yes, I know who you are, darling. The human light owned doctor. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

“I apologize, but I don't think that's true.”

The Morrigan smiled, the doctor had a set of balls to dispute her even slightly and said, “What can I do for you?”

“I... I've come here to plead to you to help me get Tamsin out of the Dawning's plane; the Temple. She was trapped there after she helped someone and-”

“What makes you think I care about the valkyrie?” The Morrigan's bright eyes traveled around Lauren's features, looking almost amused by the implication the human had made.

The doctor was struck from the verbal slap for a moment but said, “Because she works for you. I-I assumed she was-”

The Morrigan cut Lauren off again, “I have a lot of people working for me, honey. That doesn't mean I care about them.” The brunette laughed harshly and waved her hand in front of her face. “The valkyrie failed her mission and she's paying the price. What kind of leader would I be if I saved her from her punishment?”

“A merciful one!”

“Oh sweety, mercy is for the weak. The dark don't give a shit.” The Morrigan's voice dropped down an octave, “Now if there isnt' anything you can offer me, we're done here. Ki-whatever her name is will see you out.” She turned back toward her computer and began to type.

Lauren stood there for a few more seconds, she heard the door open slowly from across the room and knew Kiki was waiting for her, but instead of moving out of the room, she walked the few inches to the Morrigan's desk and bent down.

“Please,” she said, looking into the Morrigan's eyes, “I will give you _anything_ you want, but please, help me get Tamsin out of the Temple.”

The Morrigan's eyes were still glued on the computer, she thought she was doing a very good job to not look down the human's cleavage, but her hands had stopped flying across her keyboard. If Lauren had really looked, she could see the brunette's lips pull into a small, very small, smug smile. She had been waiting for this moment.

“How about this,” she said, looking back up at Lauren, “you will owe me... a favor.” Lauren's eyes showed disbelief, hesitation even, and the Morrigan continued, “Just that. Just a favor that I can call in at any time. I give you the spell to get into the Temple, you come out- most likely you'll die trying to save her- and whenever I need you, you'll do whatever I want like a good human.” Her eyes lit up even brighter than earlier. “Deal?”

Lauren looked down at the hand that was extended to her from across the table. There was no second guessing, no anger from the Morrigan's words, no second thought if this was really the route she needed to go; the blonde immediately, and without hesitation, grabbed hold of the hand tightly and shook.

+++

Dyson watched, his index finger across his lips much as the first time, as the blonde doctor came out of the building and got back into a cab that she had no doubt called herself, or the building had called for her. He didn't think it was proper procedure for the blonde to lie to him about staying in the house, and then the moment she thought he was gone, to sneak out and go to the Morrigan's development. He didn't mean to follow her, he was still rolling his eyes at the Tamsin incident, but after losing his partner to the Dawning, after promising Bo he would look out for her... he wasn't ready to lose anyone else.

He would have gone into the building, ordered the Morrigan to tell him what the women's meeting had been about, but he knew the war implications would flare up from a light busting into the leader of the dark's establishment. Instead, he simply calmed himself before doing anything rash. Watching as Lauren gave the cab driver the address she wished to go, and off they went, he simply put his car in gear and followed the cab back down the long streets to Lauren's apartment.

Lauren got out of her cab promptly and pulled out a wad full of money from her pocket. She tried to give it to the cabbie but he shook his head, presumably telling her the fae was already paid for. The blonde watched, her eyes rising up to the sky as she smiled halfheartedly to herself, and was about to walk into the apartment complex after the cab drove away, when she heard a door close harshly behind her. She wouldn't have thought anything by it, until she felt a tight hand squeeze on her arm.

“Lauren, I thought you were going to stay in tonight,” Dyson said, turning Lauren to face him.

The doctor blushed slightly, not from her deceit but for the fact she had been about to throw the man over her shoulder and onto the ground from scaring her into thinking he was an assailant. “I- um- didn't have any food in my place. I was just out to a restaurant.”

Dyson knew she was lying, of course he did, and said, “You really expect me to believe that? Why were you at the Morrigan's place? Lauren, that area is dangerous for you. She could have killed you.”

“That's better than what I'm feeling now, Dyson.” Lauren looked away after she said it, a bit ashamed at herself for even speaking the words.

“Hey,” Dyson said, grabbing the doctor's arm solemnly, “you don't mean that. I told you I would get Tamsin back to you, didn't I? At least let me call Bo-”

“No,” Lauren almost screamed, looking up into Dyson's eyes with bafflement. “No, please. I don't want her here, Dyson. Please.”

“Alright, alright, I'm sorry.” Dyson squeezed her arm tighter as she seemed as if she were going to cry any moment.

“I know I'm not strong enough to protect her, Dyson.” Lauren's voice sounded as if she were trying to hold back tears and Dyson dropped his arm. “I'm not fae, Dyson. That's why... I knew you were following me... The Morrigan gave me a spell.”

Dyson looked down at Lauren, making sure to place a hand on her shoulder, and asked pointedly, “What spell?”

“Come inside,” Lauren said, refusing for a moment to tell him out in the open.

The wolf agreed slowly and allowed the doctor to lead him through the doors into her establishment.

Getting inside, Lauren closed the door to her apartment, and walked over to get a drink of water. After taking a glass out of the cupboard and turning on the tap, she took a long drink and sighed as she finished. Looking over at a still confused Dyson, she cursed herself for not telling him her plan to begin with, but regardless he was there now and she had to tell him the truth.

“The Morrigan gave me a spell that can send me back into the Dawning's plane. It creates a portal just like the one that was created when Bo entered her Dawning. She said the Temple would be just like any other fae's Dawning, but this spell... this spell would give us the upper hand.”

“What kind of upper hand?” Dyson asked as Lauren looked back down and took another intake of water.

“When a fae enters the Temple, when they enter their Dawning,” Lauren began to explain, “every aspect is against them in every single way. Some have to fight to get out, only being given the weapons they needed by the Caretaker or their own minds. Others are tormented to see if they can survive it, and even some others have to simply go through a psychological and emotional trail to exit their Dawning. This spell will allow someone who has already completed their Dawning, like you, and someone who isn't fae, like me, to become... almost supercharged.

“It's like,” Lauren continued after seeing Dyson's blank stare, “we'll be able to conjure anything we could think of to get through the trials the Caretaker throws at us. Either it be emotional, physical, or a mix between the two. We don't be playing by his rules, Dyson, we can make our own. It'll still be difficult to go through the portals, the doorways, to get to Tamsin. But we'll have an advantage.”

Lauren finished as she walked over to Dyson. His brown furrowed with the new bit of information and she tried not to push him any harder than she already was. Yes, he said he would do anything in his power to protect and get Tamsin back, but was he really going to walk into a place that he had already been lucky to pass, to retrieve his partner?

“Well... what are you waiting for,” Dyson said, a small smile forming on his lips.

“You- you really mean it?”

“I promised you I would get her out. I intend to keep that promise, Lauren.”

The doctor's heart welled up with emotion, she would not have to do this all alone as she did everything, but she quickly blinked and coughed. “Thank you, Dyson. Thank you.”

After a few moments of yet another shoulder squeeze, the two pulled away and Lauren extracted the spell parchment from her pocket. She knew she would need nothing but her own imagination and will when inside the Temple, and she tried to take a deep breath as she pronounced the words, years of medicine and research helping her.

“Huc iter, mens nostra corpora nostra, etc. Concede nos recuperare socium, socium nostrum. Obsecro. Aperi.”*

The room suddenly began to crackle with electricity, something smelled of putrid stink, and a harsh light appeared before them. The portal, which had been a colorful mix of blues for Bo, was now a mix of greens, oranges, and yellows. The portal crackled with electricity, small strands were able to be seen coming from it's opening, and Lauren looked back towards Dyson.

This was it. Now or never.

Dyson came closer to Lauren and grabbed her hand tightly. “Whatever you do,” he screamed, “do not let go of my hand!”

Lauren's hair whipped in front of her face as she nodded vigorously, and looked back towards the portal.

_I'm coming for you, honey._

The fae and human jumped in without another thought, tumbling down into the Temple, their hands clasped together in search of a certain valkyrie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *"Huc iter, mens nostra corpora nostra, etc. Concede nos recuperare socium, socium nostrum. Obsecro. Aperi." Roughly translates to, "Allow us safe passage, our minds, our bodies, our souls. Allow us to retrieve our lost companion. This, I beg. Open."


	12. Forgetfulness

Screaming. All Lauren remembered as she tumbled down was screaming. It rang in her ears like large bells that resounded at every hour of the day. It felt as if her body was being torn into millions of pieces and then stitched back together in a matter of milliseconds. She wanted to scream- wait, she was already screaming- she wanted to die. Anything to break this maddening cycle as she fell, head over heels, into the Temple. Fingers slipped in between her own, closing down and tightly clasping both hands together. She couldn't turn to see who's hand was closed tightly around her own, but at that moment, she didn't care. She just wanted it to end.

It was like a fist to the face, the air pressure changing. One moment they were falling, but it felt as if they were still being suspended, no air passed by them, and then like a gut wrenching stab, wind cascaded around them, ripping at their faces and clothes. Lauren felt herself stop her screaming, she heard it rather than comprehended it, and she looked over at Dyson as much as she could. The wind was coming up too fast around them, they could barely move their bodies or any part of their mass.

Dyson struggled to turn his head to gaze at her, and then back toward the fast approaching ground. His eyes revealed nothing but fear, and as he opened his mouth to scream a stream of words, Lauren heard nothing but a few of them, which without the context, made little sense.

“Spell... conjure... want!” Was all Lauren heard.

The ground was closing in on them, growing bigger and bigger like someone was stretching the four corners of it. Her mind reeled to all of the graphic depictions of suicide victims that fell from the Empire State Building. There was barely anything left that was recognizable, every bone wasn't crushed they were pulverized, and Lauren knew from this height, they would be a lot more than squished.

We are as strong as our imagination, Lauren said to herself as the ground would soon greet them in a not so friendly manner; splat, squish, kablooey. We are as strong as our imagination.

The air force tried to stop her, and as she tried to move her left hand to straighten in front of her; it only complied to bend so that her hand was near her face. Her fingers were splayed, her palm collecting the wind, and right before they touched- closer and closer it came- she thrust her palm downward right into the ground.

She saw the air around her palm shoot out in wisps, it was noticeably white, and the two companions seemed to float in the air for a few more moments before Lauren slowly brought her knees to connect with the ground; Dyson doing the same. Bringing her leg up to place her arm between it, she slowly got to her feet, surprised she could stand immediately from their recent fall, and looked over at Dyson who seemed to be giddy as he slowly released Lauren's hand. The human found, much as it was on the shifter, small imprints where their fingers had been on each other's skin, white against the harsh red of the bleeding undercurrent of flesh.

“Well,” he said, looking over to Lauren, “I guess the spell worked.” Looking around, the shifter found themselves in a field of tall grass, and from what he saw, it stretched out as far as the eye could see.

Lauren let out a small breath of laughter, all that she could muster, and said, “I don't understand. I thought, I mean I read that in most of the Fae's Dawning's they would go through the portal and come out in a recognizable area. The sky is certainly _not_ recognizable area someone would walk out into.”

“The Caretaker must know we're inside the Temple. That's the only explanation.”

“Then we have to hurry.” Lauren was suddenly fearful, “He could do anything to Tamsin now that he knows we're here.”

Dyson stopped her from moving away from him with a soft yet firm hand on her shoulder. “How do you suggest we stop him, Lauren? We have no weapons.”

The blonde doctor's eyes shifted downward in thought, then back to Dyson as she smiled slightly. “With these,” she said, raising her hands, and suddenly the shifter saw a beautifully crafted bow in the doctor's left hand while her right held the strap that connected to a quiver of arrows. The dark beads that fell away from the feathered end jingled together slightly as Lauren put it over her head to rest on her back, the ends brushing the right of her shoulder, and when she turned, Dyson saw two sets of hilts on opposing sides come from a black casing just above her ass.

The black casing seemed to be connected to her belt, and the hilts looked as if they were that of dark dragon bone. He remembered, in his brief travels to exported weapon goods in his younger years, that they were known as chokuto blades, straight edged and assured dismemberment with every slice. He wondered how they could condense into such a small casing and when Lauren turned and smiled, he quickly forgot.

“How did you do that?” Dyson asked amazed.

“I imagined it. Just as the Morrigan said,” Lauren added, under her breath. “You try.” The doctor's eyes shown that of new found power and the shifter had to stop himself from commenting on it.

Dyson, instead, raised a quick eyebrow in question and disbelief, hell even Lauren's shirt that was white and buttoned had changed to that of a black belted, much like a thief or assassin would wear, attire and he had to look away quickly before his simply friendly gaze turned into leering; but shrugged as he closed his eyes and imagined his childhood. He stood there for what seemed like hours, and when he opened his eyes and looked at the things grasped in his hands, he smiled.

“It is the blade that was given to me by my father,” the shifter said, his voice low in remembrance. “His father's father passed it down to him, and his father's father down to him. It has been in the shapeshifter family for generations.” Dyson's lips turned up into a smile of nostalgia as he looked at his blade and sheathed it into the black scabbard that had appeared in his left hand. His attire had turned into one of small discs covering his breast plate, a long buckle across his shoulder to his stomach, and a small wolf pelts holstered on his shoulders above his chest plate. His strong shoulders were bare, and he swiftly thought up a small string that he tied onto his waist to hold his sword firm on his left side.

“All I need is me long hair,” Dyson chuckled, his Irish drawl peaking through his speech. He cleared his throat and said, “Ah, it seemed I'm lost in memory. Come on, we've got to find Tamsin.”

Lauren, who had watched Dyson's transformation with aw, nodded quickly and turned, ready to enter the conveniently placed door that in the middle of the field they stood in; that wasn't there when they had first arrived. Ready to find her lover.

+++

The Caretaker had just plunged yet another spear, that made three, into the valkyrie's stomach when he felt a sudden gust of wind pass through his body like the touch of death. His hand was above his head, ready to throw another spear, when he quickly spun around, his bloodshot eyes looking into the whitened room he stood in.

The spear above his head disappeared immediately as he waved his hand in front of him, creating a water like portal a few feet away. Looking into it, he saw a blonde and the wolf-shifter, he remembered mildly passing his Temple long ago, walking through the portal-door in the large field.

What the hell was going on?

“It seemed like they've come to get me... and you, asswipe, you're about to-” Tamsin chuckled as she was cut off by the Caretaker, who turned sharply to stare at her, yanking his hand backward, and the spears gutted in Tamsin's form were ripped from her stomach. Spitting out blood as she laughed uncontrollably, the valkyrie felt her life beginning to fade at her blood loss, her head swimming as she felt her internal organs bleed into her body.

“They'll find a corpse if they even get here,” The Caretaker seethed, watching as the valkyrie's eyes began to droop. Sighing venomously and rolling his eyes, he waved his hand again around him and the valkyrie's stomach and internal organs mended themselves immediately. The woman spit up the last of the blood coating her mouth and she smiled ruthlessly at the frail man.

“Let's see what happens, shall we.”

“They will never make it here, no matter what heinous spell they used to get into my Temple, you stupid cow.”

Looking over the insult, Tamsin grinned as she asked, “Are you a betting man?” The valkyrie's green eyes bore into the Caretaker's brown and he didn't dare to look away. When he didn't answer, Tamsin spoke for him, a crazed smirk on her features that contorted her beautiful face, “Because I am. What I told you before, it's going to come to past, and you will scream as I rip the flesh from your body.”

The Caretaker let out a harsh breath, what else could he do, and he turned away sharply back to peer through the portal. He would stop them, would get them out of his plane, or he would trap them there forever. Waving a hand toward the portal, he began his work with the valkyrie watching on, trying not to whimper in fear for her lover.

+++

The companions, with firm grips on their weapons- Lauren had her bow expertly raised in front of her, index and middle fingers squeezed over the arrow butt, while Dyson simply held the hilt of his sword in it's scabbard- , stepped through the portal and found themselves in a small familiar room. They had both been there, though separately, and as they looked around then at each other, both shrugged and moved deeper into Bo Dennis' living area.

“What are we looking for?” Dyson asked after glancing around and finding nothing of mystical value.

Lauren, who had been doing the exact same thing on the opposite side of the room, looked over and smiled halfheartedly at the wolf. “Doorways are not doorways here. They're more like portals to further ourselves in the Temple. But...”

Dyson stopped and looked round. “But?”

“But,” Lauren sighed, her bow slightly tapping against her thigh, “we have to pick the right object or doorway to progress.”

“What do you mean by 'right object?'”

Lauren eyed the wolf, how could he be so thick when it came to such a magical aspect of his world? Turning around she said, “The Morrigan said that the spell would get us here, give us an advantage like these weapons, and faster progress through the portals. We simply need to find a specific item and walk through the door. The object would lead us faster to our intended target.”

“In this case, the target being Tamsin,” Dyson muttered, looking around the room again as he nodded. Spotting something familiar to him, but not the succubus, he called out, “What do these objects need to be to have us progress?”

“Uh- I don't know! Something important or out of place in our environment,” Lauren called from the brunette's bathroom.

“Kinda like Tamsin's truck keys sitting in Bo's bowl?” Dyson pulled the keys out of the bowl the succubus usually kept her money in, and turned as he jingled them in his hand.

Lauren came over from the bathroom, a genuine smile on her lips, and she took the keys from the detective's outstretched hand. “If the Morrigan wasn't lying,” Lauren said, eying the opened doorway she had just walked out of, “then we should be able to pass through any threshold to transport us to Tamsin faster... Ready?” The human looked up at the shifter and he nodded slowly and solemnly. Taking a deep breath, she began to walk past the doorway of Bo's bathroom.

She was so confident, positively, undoubtedly _so_ sure of herself, but when she took that one step inside the bathroom, Lauren felt herself falling forward as her foot, which should have touched ground, touched nothing but spacious air. Gasping in a breath was the only thing she was able to do as she felt herself falling rapidly.

“Dyson,” She screamed; the sensation of soaring through the air without, or very little, control of her body was very familiar of the way the pair had entered the Temple and Lauren didn't like it one bit.

The human sharply pulled in a breath as her right hand was grabbed forcefully from above, her left falling uselessly to her side along with her bow, and her body hit the jagged rocky wall with a thud. Lauren watched the truck keys that belonged to Tamsin tumble down soundlessly into the blackness below her, only slight clanks of the keys clattering together reached her ears, and she had to hiss in a breath as she watched it fall out of sight. If she would have fallen with it, there was no telling what would have happened, how deep the pit really went.

After swinging there for only seconds, Lauren looked up at Dyson, fearful of what was below her, and placed a heeled boot into the side of the wall she had fallen over.

The cliff in which Dyson stood on was a vast drop into darkness and if he had been any slower, he knew Lauren would have probably fallen to her death along with the silver truck keys that belonged to his partner. Instead of thinking of a flattened doctor, he quickly shook his head as he placed both hands on Lauren's forearm, trying to raise her back above the cliff side.

“What was that,” he grunted as he pulled Lauren.

“I don't know... It must not have been the right item.” The human was suddenly calm as she ground her teeth together from the pain emitting from her forearm being gripped.

“But it was Tamsin's; out of place of everything else in the room, what else are we supposed to find.” It wasn't an inquiry and more of a statement of bafflement.

“I don't know, I don't- ah!” Lauren screamed as something connected and bit firmly into her boot, sharp teeth clamped on either side. She gutturally yelled the shifter's name, he had lost his momentum and had dropped her a little from her sudden jerk, as whatever it was that was connected with her boot seemed to set it on fire.

Lauren grunted as she tried to deal with the pain, looking down to see what was sunken into the leather of her footwear. Eyes wide, the woman in peril stopped breathing for just a second.

A pit, a deep and blackened pit, that had been one of simple darkness before, now swarmed with roiling brown, green, and blue snakes. But they were not your ordinary sharp toothed reptiles. As Lauren's gaze was cast downward, she observed that they were the fire breathing kind, the kind that don't exist in the real world; and she quickly made note to not wish for flying pigs for fear it might come true in the magical realm. The raised heads of the ravenous carnivores spit out streams of hot fire from their wide mouth and Lauren tried not to shiver from the horrid sight.

Sudden heat cascaded over her boot and the doctor knew immediately the one clamped to her foot was trying to breathe fire onto it.

Trying not to scream, Lauren moved her right foot backwards as she pushed her left to give her more momentum and angle from the cliff, the snake biting even harder as it moved through the air, and she brought it hard against the side of the cliff with brutal force and speed. She heard it's skull crack against the side of the rocky dirt and felt as the hold on her boot lessened and then became nonexistent as the now dead snake fell back into the pit. How it could have jumped so far to reach her was unfathomable.

“Pull me up,” Lauren breathed as she watched the carcass of the snake she had killed be plucked out of the air as it fell and was devoured by it's brothers. “Pull me up now!”

“I'm trying,” Dyson yelled back, his pupils turning bright yellow while the whites of his eyes turned black. Calling upon his wolf, he pulled harder on Lauren's arm, thankful it did not snap off from the force exerted onto it, and with one last tug the woman came flying over the cliff, right onto Dyson's chest as they both fell over into hard packed dirt.

Putting her hands on either side of the man's body, Lauren raised up from his chest and looked down at the shifter; his eyes returning to normal. She lay on top of him for what seemed like ages, listening to the hisses and crackling of fire below them disappear into nothingness that they had come from, and as he smiled back up at her, she blushed after he spoke.

“Comfy?”

Breathlessly smiling down at him, and without answering his question, she got her footing below her quickly and pushed herself off of him with a small grunt after grasping her fallen bow next to his head. She stretched out her hand, Dyson's hand clasping in hers immediately, and she helped pull him up. Turning, after he brushed his backside off, she planted a firm boot into the dirt that was the cliff and looked over. The pit of snakes was gone and the only thing that remained was an ordinary look of the ocean crashing into the cliff's rock base.

Lauren's hair whipped in front of her face, her eyes, from the updraft and she asked, “Is the Temple always so...”

“Trippy?”

Smiling the doctor said, “Yeah.”

“Pretty much,” Dyson replied, looking toward Lauren as he stepped beside her to look down into the ocean after shrugging. “We'll have to find another way across the island if we're to get to Tamsin.”

“But there isn't a portal-doorway anywhere near-” Lauren cut herself off as she was talking she had been looking around, to see if they were really lost, and saw a small brown, withered and beaten doorway standing- much like the one which they had first entered into stood. Looking back toward Dyson, she raised an eyebrow in question, wondering if they should take their chance and hope the Caretaker wasn't involved.

His intense gaze unwavering as his blue eyes locked with brown ones. Lauren saw the softness pass in them, and without needing to verbally communicate, she moved towards the threshold.

The wind whipped her dark blonde hair into her face, and she immediately raised her palm to brush the strands away. Her fingers had just touched the cool copper of the doorknob when she felt a small tremor come from below her. Frowning, taking her hand back, she looked down toward her feet and back at Dyson whom adorned the same puzzled expression, tightly gripping the hilt of his sword; the wolf had felt it too. Looking round at the door, Lauren backed away slowly, wondering what this new threat was and quickly raised her right arm behind her.

Plucking a slim arrow out of her quiver, the beads danced and whispered to her softly, she notched the arrow readily on her bow. The string wasn't drawn as she turned slowly, looking to the right and left, and when the trembling increased as the unknown enemy came closer, she drew it back only slightly.

“There!” Dyson yelled, pointing to the right of him, down to the area that should have reflected the dirt of the isle but instead marked a wall of sudden darkness as far as the eye could see.

The thing that spewed from the darkness looked like a large man, his face contorted with tusks and mutilated flesh, every inch of his body seeming to follow the mutilation pattern. His hands were ordinary enough, but for long claws that sliced through the air as he ran toward the companions, and he had a large ring through the nose along with multiple ones lining the shell of his ears.

As the beast ran, Lauren quickly stretched the bow's string up against her cheek, breathing slowly as she aimed, and let the arrow rip through the air quickly. She immediately notched another one to her bow after letting the first fly, swiftly aiming and letting the second arrow fly before the first had even gotten to it's target. Taking out a third, she faltered only for a moment, it pinched gingerly between her index and middle fingers digits, as the beastly individual unhappily met her first two arrows.

They thrust and ripped into the beast with sickening accuracy; one impaled right into the chest where the heart sat, but the beast just kept moving as if the arrows had not pierced through him fully. Lauren had just enough time to notched the third arrow when the beast's body bent backward as if he was ready to ram her, and if not for her small form and quick footing, she would have been jelly against the door.

Jumping out of the way at the last moment, Lauren landed on her back, quickly aimed her arrow towards the beast, and heard the beads clatter together as they whistled through the air. The arrow hit the beast's back, where his heart should have been yet again, and she quickly got to her feet, grabbing two arrows that had fallen from her quiver, and saw the beast still didn't seem deterred. It turned around, looking down at the arrows that protruded from his chest, and he took a strong arm and flung it down onto the arrow shafts, splitting them in two and leaving the arrow heads inside of his body with little care.

Lauren looked over towards Dyson and yelled “If he doesn't have a heart or circulatory system, how are we supposed to kill him?”

“I'm impressed by you, Lauren.”

The doctor looked over sidelong and asked, “Why?”

“As a doctor you were ready to kill the beast so quickly.” The wolf was truly stunned that a person whom so importantly relied on their brains rather than their brawn had such refined marksman skills.

“Do you really think we should be discussing this right now?” Lauren asked, venom in her words as the beast roared from a few feet away, the valkyrie's influence- or something else- washing over her. Notching another arrow onto the string, she let it fly toward the beast's forehead. Aiming the second arrow that had fallen from her quiver, she quickly let it fly as well to the same destination.

“Not good,” Lauren breathed as the arrows made the beast's head fling backward, his arms falling uselessly at his sides, but only for a few moments. Lauren, for a moment, though she had finally gotten the beast, but he slowly brought up his right arm to his face as he righted himself, glaring dark pits that should have housed eyes at the companions. Bringing up his hand, it wrapped around the shafts of the arrows and pulled, having no regard for the larger holes it made when it twisted the arrow heads as he pulled them out.

It smiled, sickeningly as it had dark gums and an even darker tongue with razor sharp teeth, and snapped the arrows in two with one squeeze of his hand.

“Really not good,” Lauren said, her brown eyes flicking to every appendage of the beast's body, trying to find some type of weakness from her medical usage.

“That won't work any longer,” Dyson yelled as the beast began a rampage for them. Unsheathing his weapon, he stood at the ready to meet the monstrous man as it ran toward him.

Just before the beast made contact with him, Dyson sidestepped expertly, as if he had been learning the move only yesterday, and brought down his sword onto the brute's back, slicing his flesh with a satisfying sound. Much to their surprise, as the beast did not bleed from the arrow strikes, the thing continued his pattern as the gashing wounds did not bleed as it turned; he had almost gone over the cliff but stopped quickly, much too quickly for something of such huge mass, it eyed the shifter with a wicked smile on his lips. They weren't that far away from each other and-

“Dyson!” Lauren screamed, aware that all the beast would have to do is reach out a hand.

The wolf-shifter didn't have time, just as Lauren thought, and the beast had his hand around the warrior's stomach region too quickly for him to stop it. The beast squeezed quickly, so quickly and grotesquely, and the thing's hand seemed to be holding nothing as it seemed all of the crevices on it's giant hand was pressing into each other. Dyson's mouth was open in a silent scream, if Lauren waited any longer she was sure blood would shoot out of his mouth from his pulverized internal organs, and she made up her mind quickly.

Throwing down her bow and taking off her quiver of arrows, Lauren placed her right and left hands onto the dragon bone of her blades and pulled them out of their scabbard. All twenty-eight inches of the masterfully crafted steel seemed to be cramped into a black casing that only stretched eight, and as they were released the sun seemed to dim and the earth shook under the pure force of such power. Holding her left arm out, her right placed in front of her, she began to run toward the beast and her companion.

Letting out a wild yell, imagination was key; she quickly went to her knees and slid in the dirt, just behind the beast's body, thankful it was too preoccupied with the wolf to notice her. Bringing up her swords quickly, she sliced open the back of the beast's knees with precision- Bo would have been proud- and jumped back quickly as it went to it's knees with a grunt, Dyson still in it's squeezed palm. Taking no time for it to pick itself back up again- it wasn't real, none of it was real- Lauren quickly came up behind him and placed her right sword to his throat, her left squelching down into the lithe between the beast's neck and shoulder. Letting out a yell, she quickly sliced the weapon to the far right, the beast's throat with it.

The monstrous man knelt there for a few moments, the grip on Dyson seeming to release, and his eye sockets were pointed toward the sky. Just as the shifter had gotten out of the beast's grasp did the thing fall over, face first, into the ground. Presumably, and hopefully, dead.

Dyson looked up at Lauren, his hand on the side of his chest as he drank in as much air as he could with bruised and broken ribs, and whispered gutturally, “Thank you.”

Lauren nodded, all she could do after the realization dawned on her of what she had done and looked down at her sword. “I think... I think I'm going to be sick.”

“Hey,” Dyson tried to walk over to her, and with a few moments longer than it should have taken, finally got to her and held the woman's shoulder, “it's not real. You didn't take a life. You're a doctor, Lauren. You would never take a life if there was another option, no matter how crazy.” Changing his tune after only a few minutes wasn't like the honorable shifter, but he hoped the blonde wouldn't notice.

It seemed to calm the doctor down only a little, her conscious getting the better of her as she looked down at the bloodless enemy, and back toward Dyson. He looked at her with concern, was she really fit for all of this, and she nodded curtly, trying to dispel the thought of killing from her mind.

Dyson nodded and smiled, “We need to- shit, Lauren move!”

Lauren turned, sword in hand at the ready for the new threat, but she was quickly thrown aside as a hard fist, or clawed hand, swept across her cheek which knocked her out cold.

Dyson watched the doctor go down, and saw two more of the beastly men come out of the wall of darkness much as the first did, but this one had appeared only a foot away from the companions which took them off guard. He hadn't seen it until it was too late, already descending on them, and now the doctor, her swords fallen uselessly out of her hands to her sides, was unconscious. Quickly taking up his own blade that had dropped when he was attacked, Dyson stood ready for the beasts to attack him.

He didn't need to wait long as the first beast that had taken out Lauren let out a groan and swung out wildly toward the shifter Dodging easily, Dyson sliced the beast's belly open- to produce nothing- and tried to doge the next attack.

He didn't see, for the life of him he didn't see, the second one had taken Lauren by the back of the collar and was dragging her limp body toward the now opened brown door. He hadn't seen her as he had been fighting for dear life, the deep wounds he had sustained getting the better of him, as the beast reached the door and looked down at the blonde doctor in his hand. Dyson only saw, at the very last moment he shouted her name, when the beast let out a grunt and had thrown the doctor into the doorway, presumably into a whitened room from the bright light cascading forth. He screamed Lauren's name again as he dispatched the first beast, slicing it's throat with a growl, and ran toward the doorway screaming.

There was no way he could let them be separated!

But the doctor was gone, out of sight, and the second beast stood barring his path. Raising his weapon again, the wolf breathed heavily from the overlap of emotion filling his mind.

Dyson had lost his friend, companion, his doctor, to the Temple.

+++

“Hey, sleepy head. You're going to sleep the day away,” a sweet honey voice said, a voice that sounded painstakingly... familiar. Lauren groaned and tried to get up but her head swam as she did and she was pushed back gently. Whoever had pushed her down walked away from the human and the sweet honey voice came again, this time a chuckle accompanying as she did, “You're the one that's supposed to be taking care of me, you know. Who do you think you are getting such a nasty bump?” There was a pause as Lauren heard a cloth being dipped in water. “Don't worry, I'll you all better.” The woman had come to sit beside Lauren on whatever she was laying on.

The wet cloth pressed against the side of Lauren's face, on her bruised cheek, and she hissed in a breath. Her eyes were still closed as she heard tsking noises that came from the woman above her's lips. The lips that Lauren knew so well...

“Nadia?” It was more like a plea rather than a question as Lauren finally had enough will, and courage, to open her eyes.

“Who else would it be, silly?” The woman's mocha skin, her green eyes, the way she wore her hair always in a pony tail, but sometimes would wear it down. God, this was her, this was Nadia.

“Nadia,” Lauren whispered, raising a hand to touch the cheek of her former lover. Her... dead lover. Lauren shook her head, “This isn't real. You're not... real.”

The woman scoffed playfully, “Of course I'm real, baby.”

The pet-name tore into Lauren's heart. “No, I-I have to find Tamsin.” The human tried to raise herself from the bed, she found it _was_ indeed a bed she lay on, but the brunette pushed her down gently.

“Who's Tamsin?” The woman was oblivious, no that was how they made her seem, and she walked over to the small bowl inside their tent. The tent they had been housed in when they had been trekking across the Congo, for a few months, with Lauren's medical group. The only reason Lauren had been there was to cure the epidemic patients, to help the humans- the fae she was soon to find out- from their soon to be deaths. Nadia had come along after the military, she was so happy, so giddy, she had never been to the Congo and she just loved taking photos...

“I need to leave. This, this is cruel, this isn't real.” Lauren's bottom lip almost quivered with unshed emotions, her throat constricting from the force of holding back her tears. “Please... stop. This is wrong. I have to... have to find Tamsin.”

Nadia sighed and placed the cloth into the bowl. Turning and walking over to the bed, she sat down slowly and looked into Lauren's eyes, a small smile on her lips. She was so beautiful, Lauren thought as she looked into lighter green eyes, almost gray; she was so beautiful and it was the doctor's fault that she was there. That she had gone into the coma, just a few days away, and had woken up to have that thing inside her.

Lauren still refused to open the small box under her bed, the box holding Nadia's pictures that she took for her, the pictures of herself, mementos and other things Lauren couldn't stomach to look at because of what she did to the woman. What she caused. It was all Lauren's fault. But maybe...

“Do you want to go away with me?” The question came out of Lauren's lips before she could stop it. Her mind growing cloudy, uneven... forgetful.

Nadia laughed, “What do you mean? I _have_ come away with you.”

“I mean... I mean away from the Congo.”

“To where? What about your patients?” Nadia's gaze grew slightly concerned; it wasn't like her girlfriend to just up and leave the people that needed her most.

Lauren shook her head as she said, “These patients... they'll be fine without me. Someone a lot smarter will come along-”

“There isn't anyone as smart as you.”

“-and they'll fix them. But you and I, we can go anywhere we want. We can get away and be happy.”

The brunette caressed Lauren's unbeaten cheek and asked, “Aren't we happy now?”

“Yes,” the human spoke adamantly, holding onto the brunette's hands as she said, “I am so happy with you, honey. But I just feel in my heart that something bad is going to happen, and if I don't get you out of here, something bad's going to happen to _you_.” Lauren touched her cheek, her thumb slowly caressing the soft flesh. “Please, please will you come with me? We can leave right now. Pack our things and go. Run. Run far away. Please? Please say yes. Please understand.”

Nadia had been holding onto the doctor's hands the entire time they talked, looking into solemn brown eyes, her own filled with questions, and as she heard the adamant tone her girlfriend took up when speaking, the urgency in her words, the brunette's mind was already decided.

Smiling, raising her hand to caress Lauren's cheek again, she softly said, “Well which do you want me to say? Okay or yes?” The brunette continued to smile as she said, “I love you, Lauren.”

“And I love you, Nadia. So much.” Lauren's heart swelled. It beat against her ribcage harder than it had ever beat, and she wanted to hold Nadia in her arms forever. Wanted to feel the brunette's warmth wash over her like it always did when the woman would smile at her. Just one smile and she would melt, one glance, one look of those bright green eyes and Lauren would be puddy in her hands. She didn't know why she needed to get Nadia out of the Congo and soon, but she would do it because her gut told her to, she would get Nadia to safety and that was the end of the discussion.

She would protect the one she loved most and she would never give that up.

+++

The Caretaker, the damned Caretaker, turned suddenly from his water-portal and looked at Tamsin ruthlessly. Prancing around her, he actually looked as if he were dancing; he looked up at the bound valkyrie with a smile on his lips and a tune in his voice.

“It seems she has chosen whom she truly loves. Too bad it wasn't you, isn't that right, sad valkyrie?”

“You tricked her.” The valkyrie shook her head, she couldn't let the Caretaker get to her, she couldn't let the events she had witnessed in the portal confuse her, to break her down. Lauren had been used, had been made to forget about her current mission, forget about... Tamsin. “I'll kill you, you fucking bastard. I'll kill you!” Her restraints bit into her arms as she screamed and the pain that shot through them made her buck harder, pressing her wrists against the shackles as hard as she could. She would kill the Caretaker, and then the fae would appoint a new one, she didn't give a shit what the consequences would be. She would kill him. She would kill him and everyone after him!

“Ah, but how will you kill me when you are bound. Your lover is bound. Your partner is bound.” He spoke the last words slowly, making every word pack it's own punch, to crawl down into Tamsin's skin further and rile her up. He had shown Tamsin the way Dyson was taken down, the way he had fallen over the clifftop heroically, presumably to fall to his death into the rocky shore. She shook her head at the thought.

“You have no one, and now I have two new play things. Would you like me to allow your precious human to live out a happy life with her Nadia? Would that be more torturous to you to have her achieve real happiness, the only happiness she can be offered by someone in this lifetime. Or,” The Caretaker looked into the valkyrie's green eyes, this time uncaring of her wicked stare, “should I torture her with the inevitable truth of her own actions? Allow her human girlfriend to suffer and fall into a coma, allow her to awaken only to be killed by the hands of a new lover- say you perhaps-, maybe something more spectacular?”

The frail man put his finger to his chin and gasped as he thought of a heinous idea. “Yes, I will make the human kill her girlfriend! You would secretly love that, wouldn't you, dear valkyrie. You are selfish that way.” He shook his head, “When she cries tears of blood, I will make you watch as her life crumbles around her, and make you cry for her when she takes her own life, unwilling to live any longer without her precious someone. And you _will_ watch her wallow for years as she slowly breaks, and finally she will take her life in a fit of despair.” The Caretaker cackled and said, “I'm too good for myself!”

The man was giddy, happy that he could think of a new tactic to destroy the valkyrie, and he clapped his hands.

“Yes! This will be your punishment for your foul behavior; and theirs for daring to enter my Temple. Maybe after, you will realize your mistake and come around to speaking like a normal Fae.” The Caretaker smiled, a cunning, manipulative smile, and turned back to his portal. Ready to destroy the doctor's life over again.

+++

They were housed in a small shack by the lake, a place Lauren knew to be safe from any danger, though she didn't remember what kind of danger she was trying to protect her girlfriend from, and they had been happy. They were always happy. A few nagging shouts here and there, like any couple, more love than nagging thankfully. That's what they were. They were happy. The happiest they could be.

Nadia would go out each morning, early even before the birds awoke, and took pictures of the beautiful way the forest looked around the lake, the way nature seemed to be more alive.

Lauren would stay in, rousing at her girlfriend's wake from slumber, cooking her breakfast for when she came back inside. A blanket at the ready for the chills the brunette would have from the cold that would always permeate her for she always forgot to wear proper clothing to protect her.

Everything was a smooth and oiled machine. Everything was languid, lasting, loving. Lauren wouldn't have it any other way. That was, of course, until her fallacy ended so swiftly she couldn't have even fathomed it.

“Babe, don't forget your-”

“I got it, I got it,” Lauren laughed, grabbing her swimming top from the top drawer. “Don't forget your-”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” Nadia returned the laughter as she pulled her green spaghetti tank top, Lauren's favorite top that pressed against all the right curves, from the middle shelf and put it into her suitcase.

Lauren, the talented doctor, had been writing scientific papers, mostly on free radicals, for field of study around the world from their cozy cabin, and one of them had been accepted for a prestigious award. The couple were packing for the trip up to Canada, the hotel they were staying at was claimed to have an indoor pool, and the couple were ready to take full value of it. Nadia was going to be there for her girlfriend, Lauren didn't even have to ask for her to come after excitedly telling her about it, and she was sure to take multiple pictures; another reason why she wanted to go Lauren was sure.

The couple smiled at each other after they kissed slightly, going to the opposite side of the room for different times, and when they met each other in the middle of the room again, they kissed another time. Smiling, they departed back to their individual suitcases and Lauren began to hum as she packed, the meaningful, yet boring, task getting the better of her wandering mind. It was a small tune, something she must have heard somewhere a long time ago, but there was a strong form of nostalgia attached to it as she sang it to herself.

“Hey babe, what's that song?”

“Huh?” Lauren stopped packing to think, a folded pink cardigan in her hands, “Oh, I don't know. Something I must have... picked up somewhere.”

“Oh yeah? Where?”

Lauren looked back and said, “I told you, I don't know.”

“Well you're humming it with a smile so you must know where it's from.”

“Why are you pressing me about this?” Lauren didn't notice that the shining sun that had been filtering into her room had suddenly gone dark, leaving the couple in a darkened, blue-like atmosphere. Her brow creased when she looked back at Nadia, fully stopping her packing, and stared at her girlfriend like she were crazy. For her to get upset over such a little thing... she didn't understand.

Nadia looked at her, anger and fury in her eyes, but she smiled instead and said, “I'm just playing with you. I'm sorry, I must have taken it a little too far.”

“That wasn't playing, Nadia.” Lauren knew a lot about body language, voice octaves, and positioning of appendages, and she knew for a fact that her girlfriend had not being messing around. “I want to know why you got so angry over something so small.”

“It's nothing, Lauren. Go back to packing.” The brunette turned, completely ignoring a still staring Lauren, and started up packing again.

Lauren sighed aggrievedly and said, “Why are you acting like this? First you want to ask about the song, the next you say it's all fine. Did I do something wrong? Is the trip stressing you out? I understand-”

“You didn't do anything, you stupid cow!”

“Nadia!” Lauren gasped, her mouth staying agape as she looked at her girlfriend. She had never spoken to her like that before, had never said anything harsh for that matter, and for her to say something like that was so... uncharacteristic.

“I'm-I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said that.” Nadia held her head slightly and looked up toward Lauren. The blonde stayed quite, she simply stared probably trying to calculate what she should say next, but Nadia spoke instead, “I'm sorry, baby. My... my head just hurts. I'm going to go get something to eat. Do you want anything?”

Lauren shook her head slowly as she watched Nadia leave the room, her eyes traveling down to the way her girlfriend's hands seemed to shake a little, and she sighed as the brunette finally left the room. Scoffing, she looked around the small room before she turned, flicking her delicate fingers across her forehead, and began to pack again.

It wasn't long until she took up the hum again, that strange yet familiar song, and she began to sing in another language entirely before long.

" _Ég sagði þegar ég fljúga, mun ég ekki vera að koma aftur_

_Ég ætlað fyrir þessi blár, blár himinn_

_Ég hef ekki enn muna "sorg"_

_Bara farin að átta sig "sársauka"_

_Jafnvel tilfinningar ég bið fyrir þig_

_Eru bara núna að breytast í orð."_

Frowning, Lauren's hands stopped mid-packing, wondering where she had learned to speak another language, learned the stanzas of a song for that matter. Her girlfriend from the other room had moved something across the kitchen counter and it clattered onto the floor, it sounded familiar... something....

Smiling Lauren said, “Tamsin, if you try to cooking anything for me I'll-”

_Tam...sin?_

Eyes widening, she turned around, looking at the room she was sitting in. This was just a dream, this wasn't real, and this wasn't where Tamsin was! What had happened? What was going on? Lauren touched her forehead slightly as she tried to remember, tried to think of anything other than the familiar room of the shack she was in, as her thoughts were cloudy with her recent memory loss, and had just gotten to her feet when her-

“Nadia?” Lauren asked, breathless as she watched her dead girlfriend come into the room. Looking down, she saw it wasn't _just_ her dead girlfriend; more like her dead girlfriend with a pretty wicked knife in her hand. “Nadia, baby, it's me. Do you remember ?” Memories of when the damned Garuda took over her girlfriend's body played in her mind and she tried to shake off the thoughts. This was different, this wasn't the real Nadia. This was just a figment created by the Caretaker. Lauren could get out of it, she could break free and find the one she most cared for.

“I tried to be nice. I tried to let you live with your precious Nadia. But you've left me no choice, you have to die now,” Nadia said, but it wasn't Nadia's voice Lauren heard and she had to hold back her gasp as a man's voice came from her lover's throat. If the human had known the conniving talk between the Caretaker to Tamsin, she would know his recent statement was a bullfaced lie.

“Where is Tamsin? How long have I been here?” Lauren inquired angrily, hoping the Morrigan's spell still worked for however long she had been in the Temple.

“Doesn't matter. You'll be dead soon enough!” Nadia's body pounced and Lauren ducked quickly, just barely getting down in time for the blade to slice through the open air.

Like hell she was going to fight her girlfriend!

Placing a hand onto the ground to steady herself, Lauren quickly righted herself and got to her feet, running for the door Nadia had come through that would normally lead to the living area of the cabin. Through the opened doorway, Lauren could see the small glass coffee table, the roundabout of the kitchen, the rug that was laid out in front of the space a TV would normally go; memories cascaded over her from so many nights on that rug.

Shaking her head and closing her eyes, Lauren tuned out the clambering footsteps of her dead lover with the raised knife in hand as she steadied herself from the missed attack, all Lauren thought was the one person she wanted, needed, yearned to see.

“Tamsin,” She whispered, before stepping through the threshold, her eyes shut tightly, barely understanding how close she came to death as her dead lover swung her knife into the banister of the door frame where the blonde had been standing just moments before.

+++

“That isn't possible! That isn't possible,” The Caretaker yelled as Lauren the Human appeared immediately in front of him, through his water-portal.

Opening her eyes slowly, her solemn brown ones hit the Caretaker's blue and she knew the face of the man that had tried to ruin her life. She looked around the whitened out room, calmly as if that were the most peaceful thing on the earth, and she locked eyes with her lover's green ones. Her breath hitched, she gasped slightly, as she saw the streams of dried blood that ran down the valkyrie's arms down into her silk white shirt; the chains that bound the valkyrie's wrists and ankles to large polls that shot out of the ground.

“What has he done to you?” Lauren asked sadly, moving toward her real and breathing girlfriend.

“Stop right there!”

Lauren stopped as commanded, only a few feet away from the caged valkyrie, and looked lazily over to the old man who had yelled at her. Her lips barely moved as she whispered, “Was there something else?”

“Y-you can't talk to me like that. I am the Caretaker! I control the Temple, not you!”

“I'm taking Tamsin and Dyson and I'm leaving this place,” Lauren said, turning back to Tamsin and walking toward her again.

The Caretaker spat out a string of dark curses and raised his hand over his head.

“I wouldn't,” the human warned, her eyes dripping over his, her lids lowered, making her look like a would-be killer.

“This is my world, my world!”

“You're not in control of it now. I am.”

The Caretaker growled, a growl that could have rivaled even Dyson's, and he swung his arm forward, the spear he had conjured along with it. It whistled through the air as it made a direct path towards the blonde doctor. Tamsin screamed her name, the Caretaker smiled ruthlessly, and Lauren... Lauren simply raised her hand toward the oncoming spear.

The deathly weapon, just as it impacted Lauren's hand, turned into that of a deep red rose, it's stem held out from Lauren's hand as she grasped it gently.

“Did you know Nadia loved roses?” She looked up at the stunned Caretaker, his eyes portraying his fear, and when he didn't answer she continued, “If you try something like that again, I'll relieve you of your duty as Caretaker.”

“It's... you're human. It's not possible!”

“You've stolen, maimed, and tortured someone that I care about. Nothing is impossible, Caretaker. That's what it means to be human. That is something you will never have.” Lauren looked over at the frail man, daring him to dispute her, and when he didn't she walked over to Tamsin, looking up at her with sadness in her eyes.

“You look hot,” Tamsin said, looking down at Lauren's assassin-like attire and back toward her eyes. She was trying to be strong, trying to show the human that her spirit was not broken, begged her to never ask if Tamsin had witnessed the love she shared with her dead lover. The human responded with a small smile, one of genuine origin, and when she didn't respond with a word or phrase, Tamsin whispered, “The shackles. The shackles are keeping me here.”

Lauren's eyes ran over the restraints like liquid and she waved her hand, ordering them to unclasp her lover, and like good obedient children, they did. The valkyrie fell to the ground, in the human's arms, and her hands quickly went around her blonde doctor, uncaring of the blood she would flake onto Lauren's attire. She couldn't find another way to tell the woman how scared she had been, how undoubtedly worried for the human's safety. She would have been able to brush it off, exit the Temple and never look back for more than a 'thanks, whatever' but not with Lauren. Never with Lauren.

Looking up into her eyes, she saw nothing but sadness, and Tamsin sat back on her knees, her heels touching her ass, as she looked into the eyes of her lover. A few more moments passed and Tamsin had silently watched the swelling of tears in Lauren's eyes, when the human's palm jerked out and hit the lithe between Tamsin's shoulder and collarbone.

“Ow-ah! What was that for?” The valkyrie whined, rubbing her wound with a frown on her features.

“What the hell were you thinking offering yourself as Bo's hand! Did you think I wasn't going to find out about it?”

The valkyrie scoffed and whispered, “Didn't really think that far ahead.

“What did you say?”

“I said I don't think _now_ is the appropriate time for this! We don't really have it on our side.”

“You better make time, Tamsin!” Lauren sighed after staring at the valkyrie for a few moments, satisfied with the Icelandic blonde's aversion of the eyes, and she put her head in her hand as she looked up again. “Where's Dyson?”

Tamsin's eyes drifted downward as she thought of the scene she was forced to watch. “He... he went over the cliff. He fought valiantly,” Tamsin added as she watched Lauren's eyes droop, her body language changing drastically.

A low hum of laughter came from behind the women, and that laugh turned into a higher pitched screaming cackle as the Caretaker overheard their conversation. “Yes,” he said, trying to get out the words in between his laughter, “the wolf is dead!”

Lauren glared back at him, she looked nothing like the calm, collective, peaceful and kind doctor Tamsin had remembered and she said, “You can't die in the Temple.”

“Oh yes you can, filthy human! You have all give up your corporeal lives to enter my Temple, and thus your bodies may die in the real world. He is _gone_ ,” The Caretaker whispered menacingly, bending a little ways forward to emphasize his point.

“I came here with Dyson, and I came here for Tamsin. I will not leave any of them behind.” Lauren's voice was cold and precise, deathly chilling from the usage of her own command. She slowly closed her eyes, tightly as if she was dreaming, and she breathed in deeply as she whispered, “Dyson.”

Quickly, just as when Lauren had passed through the threshold of her cabin home, Dyson the Wolf appeared next to her, kneeling down, his heirloom sword in hand, his head cast downward. There was no air displacement, no swirl of mist from the sudden transport that obviously happened, it was as if one moment he wasn't there, and the next... he just was. When Lauren placed a hand on his shoulder, only then did Dyson react, shaking his head and growling, looking around quickly as he stood. Laying eyes on Tamsin and Lauren, only then did he calm, he smiled, his voice breaking a little as he said the valkyrie's name.

“You're alive,” Dyson breathed, dropping his sword and passing the small space between the partners.

Smiling as she watched them, Lauren turned and slowly stood, looking at a shocked speechless Caretaker. “We're leaving now.”

The frail man quickly found his voice, “No! You cannot leave. This place can be vengeful. You must stay.”

“I will let you live, Caretaker, even though you tried to murder me and my friends.” Her eyes were cold, her voice colder, and the two companions behind her had a hard time choosing which scared them more. From a human, those were very big words, but they knew immediately that whatever had been done to her, Lauren could back it up.

Unfortunately, the Caretaker wasn't as bright. “A pathetic human like you think she can kill me? How dare you!”

Lauren shook her head, “No, I don't think I can kill you. I _know_ I can.” Shaking her head again, the human looked down at the ground and back towards the man. “But this ability, the ability that comes from my heart, comes at a price.” Her eyes refused to wander back towards her companions and she said, “We are leaving now.”

Turning back towards her friends, the Caretaker offered them no other hindrance, Lauren waved her palm in front of her and instead of the yellow and orange portal that took them there, in it's place appeared the psychedelic blue swirls that Bo's Dawning gave her. Smiling towards Tamsin and Dyson, they seemed so hopeful as Dyson lifted the valkyrie to her feet and offered her a shoulder to lean on, his wounds completely healed from whatever Lauren had done to him, they entered the portal together.

Leaving the crazed wizened man to his own devices once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Lauren sings in Icelandic is roughly translated to: "I said when I fly, I won't be coming back. I aimed for that blue, blue sky. I have yet to remember "sadness". Just beginning to grasp "pain". Even these feelings I have for you, are just now changing into words."
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and badass Lauren. Bow chicka chicka bow chicka chicka! Hope you enjoyed the small segments of Docpod- I eternally cried- and Wolfpants. ;)


	13. Vengefulness

“ _Yeah, I made eggs.”_

_“You made eggs,” the doubt in Lauren's voice could be heard across the world in China._

_“Yes, doc, I made eggs. You gonna eat them or sit there starving.”_

_Lauren smiled slightly as she looked down at her plate filled with eggs, bacon- that looked strangely on the black and burnt side-, and biscuits. Taking a fork in hand, she stole one last glance at Tamsin, before she dug into the plate full of eggs. Bringing it lagging to her mouth, they finally made their desired target, and she started to chew slowly; painstakingly slowly._

_“Well?” Tamsin asked, her eyes glued on Lauren's face, egg soiled spatula somewhat pointed sideways as the valkyrie forgot she was holding it._

_“Um,” Lauren cleared her throat and took a sip of the apple juice opposite her, “they're um... crunchy.”_

_“Say what?” Tamsin's eyes widened as she saw her girlfriend choke on her juice and smile broadly._

_“Are they supposed to be crunchy, Tamsin,” Lauren laughed as the valkyrie made a face and moved toward her plate. She put out a hand to swipe it away from her, but Lauren quickly took it in her arms and swiveled off the wooden seat to the island. “No! I'm going to eat it,” Lauren said, taking a piece of crispy on the outside, hell of a lot crispy on the inside, bacon and popping it in her mouth._

_“Give it back you no good-” Tamsin said, trying to get the plate away from the human without spilling the contents on the floor. She hated cleaning and she was beside herself to have to clean the spotless floor if she spilled something._

_“I can't hear you over this incredible crunchy bacon!”_

_“I'm so gonna-”_

_“Knock knock?” a male resounding voice asked from the doorway, cutting off the women's fun as they had moved to the couch._

_Lauren, who had her foot out and her body bent over the couch, looked over with half a piece of bacon sticking from her lips while Tamsin, who was the recipient of the outstretched foot, was still looking playful daggers at the human with her spatula raised above her head in attack formation._

_“Am I interrupting?” Dyson asked, coming into the apartment with a bouquet of freshly cut flowers._

_Tamsin saw her partner had picked daffodils, gladiolus', lilies and other assortment of flowers the valkyrie had no clue about- but she was sure Lauren would know all of them by name and meaning- and was touched Dyson would even think about it._

_“Sup,” Tamsin said, slowly lowering her spatula to her side and raising her left hand to tickle Lauren's foot off of her abdomen. It quickly worked, Lauren began giggling profusely, attempts at stopping her laughing fit was to no avail, until she had had enough and put her foot down onto the floor, and Tamsin walked to her partner. “I'll let you have some time to talk while I put these in water.”_

_Dyson watched Tamsin eye him, wondering if he was going to say something he really shouldn't, and took the flowers from his grasp. Going to the kitchen quickly to find some scissors, the wolf watched sidelong as Lauren placed her plate full of, what looked like, burnt food down onto he glass table in her living room. Brushing off her hands, Lauren looked around toward the shifter and smiled brightly, if not forcibly._

_“I just wanted to come by to see how you were doing,” Dyson finally said, moving closer to Lauren's side. His companion that had freed him, and his partner, from the clutches of the Caretaker._

_“Oh?” Lauren asked, looking down at her fingers as if they were the most important thing in the room. She looked over at Tamsin, to see where in the room the woman was no doubt, and looked up to the shifter's chest after, raising her eyebrow, she found the valkyrie still in the kitchen facing away from the two individuals who were so alike._

_Dyson heard the slight snipping Tamsin was enacting on the flower ends and he brought his palm up to scratch the back of his neck slightly._

_“It's been almost a week and I haven't told you how grateful I am for what you did for Tamsin... and I.”_

_“I didn't do anything for you, Dyson,” Lauren said, her voice lowering slightly as she said the words. They weren't said nonchalantly, as if Lauren was trying to be humble, but it was almost... cold._

_“The Caretaker threw me off a cliff, Lauren. I literally died while in the Temple. Somehow you saved me. Even if you don't think you did, I'm grateful for you-”_

_“I don't need your gratitude, Shifter.” Lauren's eyes finally found him and she looked as if she was going to storm him out of her apartment then and there. The only thing that betrayed her was the slight snark in her voice, the cold and dead feeling radiating from her words._

_Dyson, instead of backing down, simply put out a hand- that was shrugged away quickly- and asked, “Lauren, is everything okay? This isn't like you at all. I could leave if-”_

_“Yes. I think that's wise.”_

_Standstill. They were both at a standstill. Dyson, who had been caught off guard by this sudden outburst, looked at Lauren as if she was a Pod Person that had taken over her body. Lauren, on the other hand, looked up at the wolf shifter with brown eyes that housed coldness and contempt where there was none just five days prior._

_“Flowers are successfully in water,” Tamsin said, slapping her hands together from the hard work, as she came back over to the two most important people in her life. She had been looking at the floor as she walked the small space between the kitchen and the living room, and when she finally looked up her eyes traveled slowly to her girlfriend and then her partner. “Should I, uh, leave you two alone?” she asked, her eyes slowly trailing over both of her loved ones as she placed her arms across her chest._

_“I was just leaving,” Dyson said, a warm smile on his lips as he looked over to Tamsin. “Goodbye, Lauren. I loved our chat, it was very enlightening.” His voice dropped lower as he said the human's name, as if he was trying to be menacing, and Tamsin frowned at his remark._

_Lauren's own voice sounded perky and as if she was laughing, “Have a great day, Dyson. I can't wait to see you again. Oh, and thanks for the flowers.”_

_Dyson's brow furrowed at the remark, almost as if he wasn't expecting it, and he looked over at Tamsin, who had moved to be beside the door, and smiled. Coming over, he placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her kindly. Then, as if it was the most important, and regular, thing in the world, Dyson leaned down and gathered Tamsin up in a huge hug._

_Before Tamsin had time to do anything, she was too shocked or she would have placed her hands on Dyson's biceps and pushed to make him release her, Dyson moved his lips to the valkyrie's ears- under any other circumstance Tamsin may have even playfully denied him as his scruffy beard the wolf needed direly to cut was tickling her earlobe. But the man whispered a sentence that had plagued Tamsin, that had made her have such horrible dreams, for five days:_

_“That. Is not. Lauren.”_

+++

Tamsin jumped awake from slumber with a painstaking gasp. She had to stop herself, much as she did almost a week ago, from bolting upright as she felt Lauren's body on her own. Her breathing was erratic from her nightmare, her fifth nightmare in four days, and she slowly brought the back of her right hand to her forehead. Her left was around Lauren's slight body, just above her ass on her lower back, as the human lay atop the valkyrie with her left lag draped across the latter's lower legs. Her head was just above Tamsin's left breast, her own forehead snuggled against the valkyrie's neck and shoulder, and her beautiful dark blonde hair rained around them.

The valkyrie slowly bent down to kiss her nude girlfriend on the head, something she didn't think she could do after her nightmare, and moved the woman off of her slowly yet surely. Lauren grunted and moaned at the movement, shaking her from her dream but not from sleep, and she quickly turned over onto her stomach and looked away from the luminance of the blue numbered alarm clock and Tamsin. The valkyrie reached over and draped the remnants of the sheet across Lauren's lower sections and smiled at how beautiful the woman looked.

Just as she had done the night she had received her orders from the Morrigan, Tamsin sat at the edge of the bed, her head in her hands as she sighed into them silently. It wasn't too long ago that her nightmares signified bloodied battlefields, the dying women and men's gasping breaths around her, and her bloodied face staring back at her as if it was condemning her, blaming her even, for her noble actions. Now it was more mundane, more... human. It had only been five days since Dyson had whispered those words to her, had told her what had fully happened between the two while the valkyrie had been in the kitchen, and it broke her down more quickly than she would have thought possible. Was it because she finally thought in her long fucked up life she was finally getting some resemblance of happiness?

It hadn't been like Lauren to act like that, and Dyson had no reason to lie, but it was _Lauren_ they were talking about. She hadn't changed, she had saved them all in the Temple and that power caused a few ripples in the real world. But by Odin, she was _not_ changed! She was the same old Lauren Lewis that Tamsin had met months ago, almost a half a year now that she thought about it; the human still fucked like a champion, still made breakfast and laughed at Tamsin's playful failures at something so human like cooking or cleaning, and she still smiled when the valkyrie would make a dry sarcastic remark. She was just the same...

Just the same.

+++

_When they had all made it, alive and safe, out of the Temple, Tamsin didn't see it immediately. The switch, like a light bulb, turned off in her lover's head. She didn't see the change take over the blonde doctor until it was too late to do anything about it. Too late to try, to talk to her, to retrieve any remnant from the darkness. The powerful fae couldn't halt the human from doing the one simple thing that justified, that condemned her, to what came after. Tamsin couldn't stop it, for the new-found life inside of her, she could not stop it. And Lauren's essence, her life, her death... was on Tamsin's head for all eternity._

+++

Tamsin, finally ending her contemplation, looked over at the black bag sticking out of the closet door; which must have been left there after Lauren had gotten back from a run to the light fae compound. The situation a week ago finally dawning on her, she moved across the room and tried not to shiver at the cold as it tore through her bare body- even with her fae genes with increased metabolic rates, she still got cold in certain situations- and bent in front of the bag slowly. If she found the bug, she decided, she would kill it Morrigan be damned. But what if...

The valkyrie shook her head. No, the bug couldn't have pulled a total Wrath of Kahn and crawled inside Lauren's head, turning her cold and indifferent. The Morrigan had told her it was _just_ a telepathic bug, and that was all. Yeah, because the Morrigan _never_ lies, Tamsin rolled her eyes at her thoughts with a grimace on her face. However, she finally decided as she reached her delicate and callused hand into the bag, the small underfae weren't known to sticking inside a human's brain cortex, and if they did Tamsin decided, the bug would make the Morrigan in control of the human, not cold and distant.

Nodding her head in revelation, Tamsin moved her fingers around the bag in hopes of finding the hard organic shell the underfae lived in. She would hate it if it would be open and collecting thoughts, it's soft underbelly visible, because she would probably have jumped ten feet in the air, waking Lauren up on the spot. A big bad warrior like Tamsin hated bugs, hated them with a passion, thankfully in her case she had good reason to.

“Maybe I should be thinking of the Tsuchigumo at this particular time,” Tamsin whispered to herself as she thought of the fearsome shape-shifting demon-fae that first allowed her to feel totally grossed out and her particular avoidance of bugs and spiders. Not that she couldn't handle the particular spider when she needed to, Tamsin reminded herself as she moved Lauren's papers and clanking bottles of medicine around slowly to get to the back and bottom of the bag. She had handled a few of the arthropods in Lauren's house just two weeks ago.

Big bad Tamsin to the rescue, she thought as she remembered Lauren's face when she had discovered the spider indoors. The valkyrie hadn't killed it in a hurry, she still had respect for the insects of the world as they were there first, and she had simply covered the small thing in a paper towel, picked it up, and carried it outside. After discarding it in the small bushes just outside of the apartment complex, Tamsin had returned inside and kissed her lover on the cheek and made some quip about her spider senses and it being gone for good. Tamsin remembered those times... very fondly.

“Where the hell is it,” Tamsin whispered aggravated, her fingers brushing along the bottom of the bag and finding nothing. “If she did anything to La-”

“Tamsin,” the valkyrie was cut off by a voice behind her, “what are you doing.” The voice, Tamsin found, was not asking her a question, it was more of a matter-of-fact, I-don't-care-what-the-answer-is comment and it made the valkyrie shiver.

Turning, Tamsin found herself looking up at a naked Lauren, much as the valkyrie was herself, looking down at her as if she were the very insect the valkyrie was trying to find.

Cold, Tamsin thought, she's just... cold.

“I-I was looking for something for my headache. Guess it's some residual effect from the Temple.” Tamsin tried to smile towards Lauren as she got to her feet, the air around her making her skin creep up in goosebumps as she rose, even though it wasn't that cold in the apartment. Lauren, the valkyrie saw, didn't seem to notice and the only way Tamsin knew the human was cold was from her delicately erect nipples.

“I'll get you something from the bathroom,” Lauren said as she smiled kindly and passed by her lover closely, making her way to the linen closet in the bathroom.

If thunder or a loud sound could play as in the movies when the hero finally made a revelation about her partner, this was the time to play. Tamsin's eyes widened a fraction of an inch as she slightly moved her head to see Lauren's path to the bathroom. There was one thing the valkyrie already prized herself on and that was reading people. It only took her a few seconds, hell even a millisecond, but she could always do it in a flash. Reading her lover now was like a dull knife wrenching in her guts.

The doctor didn't smile like she usually did, telling Tamsin it wasn't just a headache but a powerful fae migraine of some kind since the fae didn't get sick; no type of kiss or playfulness as she moved past her... nothing.

The way she smiled, Tamsin thought, the way she smiled was different. It wasn't unusual for the good doctor to pull up her lips in a feigned smirk when she didn't mean it, trying to disarm the person she would be talking to; and the prime reason one could discern it from a real smile was that it wouldn't reach her eyes. Tamsin knew those smiles well, she practically lived off of those smiles. She loved it because when Lauren grinned around her, she never used something so fake. But this time, this time the smile wasn't just a fake one, it didn't reach her eyes as the others usually didn't, but this one... was simply cold. It would make a full grown fae jump away from her and cringe at the force of it.

That was when Tamsin knew, as she got back into bed and took the glass and pill from her lover, that the woman beside her was not the same.

The woman beside her was _not_ Lauren Lewis.

+++

“Listen to me, Dyson, it's not her!” Tamsin spoke hurriedly into her phone as she looked down to the first floor of the apartment from the bannister.

She had been snooping around the apartment ever since Lauren had left for work, at the request of Tamsin, something the doctor rarely went in to do anymore, and Tamsin was trying to find the underfae that had made her change. The valkyrie had known the human, even as cold as she was, couldn't deny it when her girlfriend asked her to find everything she could on the underfae that had no name but was the offspring of a mermaid and satori, and thankfully Lauren had gone without a fuss, even going as far as kissing Tamsin on the cheek with indifference at the new project on her hands.

Hopefully, the underfae really didn't pull a Star Trek and it was still chilling out under a pillow close to Lauren; making a cocoon of sorts to feed from the doctor but also control her.

“So you're finally ready to believe me?”

“Cut the crap, Dyson! This is serious.

“Yeah, I know.” Dyson sighed over the phone, no doubt putting his palm across his eyes, and Tamsin could hear the buzzing of people chatting and phones ringing off the hook in the familiar air of the precinct. “She smells exactly like Lauren but it's like... I don't know-”

“Like a light bulb has been switched off in her brain,” Tamsin finished, stopping her search for a few moments and putting her left hand to her forehead. “Dyson... I think it's my fault.”

“Why would it be your fault? It could be totally unrelated, maybe even having been the Temple. The Caretaker did say something about the place being vengeful.”

“But it's still on a completely separate plane than ours; he wouldn't have any power here.” Tamsin sighed as she looked under Lauren's pillow with no success. Her dealings with her master Odin and his plane of Valhalla had taught her that. Stopping again, thinking it over, she said “Remember when I came to the precinct for your... help a few weeks ago?”

Tamsin could hear Dyson switching the phone to his other ear, something he usually did when he was really getting into the conversation and he said, “Yes I do. Why?”

“I might have come to you for help with a task the Morrigan wanted me to do for her.”

“And the task was?”

Tamsin placed her left hand on her hip, as she bit the side of her lip, and tried to breath in small breaths as to not hyperventilate. If she told Dyson this, the conversation could go any of two ways. Either Dyson would be alright with this discovery, only caring about keeping Lauren safe and still helping Tamsin. Or he could get angry, burn the bridge that was the partner's friendship for half a year already, and hang up the phone after yelling at her for her betrayal. Not that she couldn't handle if it was the latter, but Tamsin seriously hoped it was the prior.

"Look Dyson, you have to understand that I didn't want to do this. I lo- I like Lauren, you, hell even the succubus. But when she gave me an order I couldn't just refuse."

Dyson's voice was dangerously low when he asked, "What did you do, Tamsin?"

"The Morrigan ordered me to put these little underfae in Lauren's medical bag. She said they would feed off of the thoughts of anyone close to it and... siphon it back to Evony's mind."

"So she knew everything we knew."

"Yeah. Yeah she did."

There was silence over the phone and Tamsin was about to ask if Dyson was okay until he spoke hurriedly, "That's how you knew about Bo's Dawning. That's why you offered yourself as Hand. You were sent there to kill her for the Morrigan!" Dyson's voice almost raised into a shout until he realized he was still in the precinct. His gruff voice was angry, deathly angry, and if Tamsin was in front of him now she knew he would probably try to wring her neck for trying to hurt the woman that he loved.

"Yes, I- I admit I was sent there to kill her. But I gave my life for hers so she could get out! I didn't want to do it, Dyson. I didn't fucking ask to be dark fae and belong to the Morrigan. Just as you didn't ask to be the property of the Ash. I'm sure he's given you some hard orders over the-"

"But not any to kill the woman my partner loves. You didn't just betray Lauren, the team, you betrayed me and you betrayed yourself."

"Don't talk to me of betrayal, Dyson!" Tamsin's anger flared, just as her nostrils as she waved her hand around her aggressively, "Don't you dare talk to me about betrayal."

"It was a mistake to bring you into the fold. I knew you would betray me and the others sooner rather than later, but I never expected you to do that to someone you claim to love. You _have_ Lauren, you have her, and you destroyed her on your own will."

Tamsin gasped and the silence over the phone was unmistakable. Her voice was just over a whisper, so low in fact Dyson had to strain to hear what she said, "You think I don't know that I fucked up? You think I don't know that whatever is happening to Lauren is because of me? You're supposed to be my partner, something I've never had as deep as I had with you, I was supposed to be able to tell you anything about myself, god knows you've been trying to chink away at the armor ever since we met, and then you throw that at me. You throw that at me after I come to you for fucking help and then you talk to me like I've betrayed _you_. I didn't plant the second underfae in the precinct like she ordered me to, I didn't plant one in the Dal or in the light fae compound. I sacrificed my own life to save the woman that you love, and you still talk to me about betrayal!"

Her words had been increasing in volume over time and the last sentence blew through the phone like a loud speaker. Tamsin heard her former partner say, even yell, her name but she didn't care. Placing her left foot in front of her, she quickly raised her phone in the air behind her, and threw it with all her might into the far wall just behind the alarm clock stand. The clock, after the remnants of the phone cascaded down onto the table, almost fell over the side of it as there was a new occupant in it's spot, yet Tamsin couldn't care less.

Huffing in a few short breaths, Tamsin had to calm herself down or she would so something drastic, she looked at her hands as if they were new. The strength she had felt coursing through her just then felt as when she had just come out of her own Dawning millenniums ago. But that was insane, Tamsin tried to reason with herself as her head still swam with brutal remarks and curses towards her former partner, she was dying; there was no way she could randomly have her strength back.

Just as Tamsin had gotten her breathing under control, her hands falling down to her sides, she faintly heard something scuffling across the tiled floor of the bathroom. Snapping her head to the left, Tamsin immediately bolted into the bathroom and was increasingly happy that she had remembered her belt with her hidden blade on the back of it.

Looking around slowly, Tamsin's head turned side to side, trying to listen to see where the little monster had crawled off to. Before she could tell, however, the thing found her instead.

A screech came from above her head and, if Tamsin had turned in less time, the underfae would have torn her head from her shoulders. Tamsin's fingers brushed the tiled floor as she ducked, and she immediately straightened with knife in hand. Looking around, she said nonchalantly, "Now that thing has definitely grown."

Tamsin looked around the room once more, seeing if she could spot it before it attacked again, and wondered how it had gotten so big in such a small amount of time. Did it grow a millimeter every time it consumed a thought; because it looked almost as big as a damn cat, Tamsin thought as she readied her knife at her side for the next attack.

Yet another screech permeated the air from behind Tamsin and, if she was anyone else she would have been skewered by the black appendage it grew, she sidestepped quickly. Just as it passed by her, narrowly missing her midsection, Tamsin brought up the knife from her side into the underfae's soft belly. Gritting her teeth, she swiftly disengaged from the target and raised the knife above her, it's gooey yellow blood trailing onto the ground and onto her blade, and she brought it down just below where the thing's back bent.

The small underfae, who was not so small any longer, screeched as it's blood flowed out of both wounds profusely and it fell to the ground almost immediately. It's black beady eyes looked around itself, almost like a crab the way they looked, and Tamsin had to stop herself from shivering at the way it seemed to convict her for it's death.

It didn't take long for the small underfae to die, it's blood pouring out from under him in soft ringlets, and Tamsin was aware that on any other occasion she would have been upset with herself for getting Lauren's apartment dirty. However, on this occasion, she didn't really care.

Bending down, just as the underfae was about to die, Tamsin whispered into whatever orifice it had to hear through, "I don't work for you any longer. If you want to attack the little Sunshine Gang, you're going to have to go through me. As a Valkyrie and a maiden of the powerful god Odin, this I promise."

Tamsin stood after her delivery and would have spit on the underfae's corpse, she was done with chivalry, but a sudden and faint knock on the door from the first floor brought her out of her thoughts. Looking out of the bathroom and into the living area, Tamsin wondered what she had hoped to see as she could not spot the downstairs area from the bathroom. Looking back to the dead and bleeding underfae below her, and to her bloodied hands, Tamsin raised her head toward the ceiling and huffed out one of her favorite words:

"Shiiiiit."

+++

The valkyrie, who had cleaned up her hands, face, and her bare feet but had left the underfae's corpse in the bathroom, opened the door swiftly as she got down the stairs. She didn't know who to expect, the person had not left for the five minutes it took Tamsin to clean herself, and she suspected they had great business with Lauren if they were so adamant about seeing her.

Opening the door, Tamsin found a very unassuming man before her. His hair was a mousy brown color and it was tasseled and unkempt around his head, but in a very cute type of way for any forty year old, and his smile disarmed her as he didn't seem surprised that she had opened the door or that Lauren was not the one to answer. He wore a black suit, his undershirt was that of a black shade, with faded blue jeans and he wore no tie. He wasn't very formal but he did seem leagues smarter than Tamsin herself, much as Lauren was. He wore no glasses or any other assortments and Tamsin immediately found him nonthreatening in the least.

"Hello there," He said, a smile on his lips, "I'm looking for Lauren Lewis, she was said to live here."

"S-she does," Tamsin faltered for only a moment and continued, "she's at work right now."

"Ah, I see. She told me she would be home." His eyes traveled down to the ground as he contemplated something and, after he was done, he looked back up at Tamsin. He was probably only an inch or two taller than Lauren, but it still made him slightly shorter than Tamsin even if she was bare foot. "We haven't met before, I'm Dr. Isaac Taft. It's a pleasure to meet Lauren's partner."

"I assume she talks about me for you to guess that?" Tamsin asked, forgetting for a moment to reach out her hand in the customary human greeting. If it had been only a few months ago, she wouldn't have cared to act civil around the man and she wondered how much Lauren the Human had rubbed off on her.

"Pardon me for saying, hopefully it's not a secret, but Lauren talks about you all the time. Her and I have been working on a case together, sciencey stuff you understand, and every chance we're not working she talks about how much she loves you."

"Well I hope she hasn't said too much about me because you've got me at a disadvantage." Tamsin wasn't fooled for a moment, even if she wanted to be so badly, that Lauren would ever talk to a recent stranger about her life. Lauren was a private person, even in the face of someone she thought she could trust, not even Tamsin knew all about her life as she should. There would be no way that Lauren would immediately begin telling this Taft guy all about Lauren's lover.

"It's mostly about the science," Taft said, his smile broadening as he nodded his head. Putting his hands in his pockets he said, "Well, when she comes back, could you tell her I was looking for her?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

"Excellent. It was very nice meeting you," Taft said happily, reaching out his hand again.

So much touching, Tamsin thought as she reached out her own to shake Taft's hand. The man smiled one last time before stepping backward away from the door and heading back toward the complex's entrance. Tamsin slowly closed the door, making sure the doctor's footsteps continued toward the doors and not double back, and turned away from it. Falling against it with her back, she sighed upward and looked up the stairs.

"Time to clean up," She said, not giving any mind as she probably should have, to the new person in Dr. Lauren Lewis' life.

+++

Tamsin had entered the Dal Riata almost fifty minutes later after cleaning up her mess and throwing the mats for the bathroom floor into the wash. She wasn't in the mood to see Dyson, who was still no doubt at the precinct doing his mundane human job, and she couldn't very well go to the light fae compound to see Lauren at her work. Tamsin had half a mind to go to the Crack Shack that belonged to Kenzi and the Succubus, to see Kenzi of course, but she quickly thought against it after she wasted half of her tank driving across town to their place.

Instead, Tamsin turned to the only other person she knew would have to listen, to help her, with her problems and she had done so after her third beer.

"You know, I cannot believe him," Tamsin said, almost yelling, as she took yet another swig from her very bitter drink. Looking opposite the bar at Trick, the valkyrie wished she could tell the barkeep the whole story to get it off her chest. "He says that I betrayed him, like the what the fuck does that even mean?"

"And did you betray him?" Trick asked, his hands keeping busy by cleaning the assortment of glasses that were perpetually dirty, as he paid half a mind to the valkyrie's woe. If wasn't that he didn't care for the valkyrie, he liked Tamsin by herself, but her behavior toward putting his granddaughter in fae prison and constantly attacking his bar patrons seemed to get him on edge toward the blonde.

"I didn't betray _him_. I betrayed someone _else_. Him taking credit for that betrayal is like your king saying he skewered a wild boar and yet it was his right hand man that did the slaying." Tamsin hated literary similes but she wasn't in the mood to think up a more contemporary one. "He's such a fucking ass! And I don't need this bullshit right now. I have to figure out what's wrong with Lauren."

"Something's wrong with Lauren?" Trick's ears pricked up quickly at the name of his granddaughter's former love interest and a friend, and he almost dropped his glass onto the counter.

Tamsin looked up slowly from her own glass and looked into brown eyes. "She's been different; cold. She hasn't been herself since she pulled me out of the Temple."

"Yes, I heard about that little... exploit." The barkeep raised his eyebrow in silent acknowledgment of the event but shook his head as he put his glass down. "There are only a few ways a fae, a human actually, could enter the Temple when it is not their time for the Dawning. I may be a barkeep and hear everyone's secrets, but that one hasn't come out yet." Trick leaned in closer, his forearms on the bar, like that was going to get Tamsin to talk to him.

"Listen old timer, I don't take kindly to people getting in my face. So you might want to back up before your breath kills me for good."

Trick made a face, a very amusing face on any other circumstance, and raised himself from the bar's top. Putting a hand above his mouth, he blew into it and tried to smell his breath. Looking back toward Tamsin with a face that said, 'seriously', his hands waved to her to speak.

Tamsin sighed and groaned and said, "I don't know what she used. I found a piece of paper in her drawer with Latin scribbled on it. I guess-"

"What did the Latin say?" Trick cut in with his question, his eyes suddenly turning very serious.

"It's been awhile since I read Latin, not that it's something you magically forget, but it said 'Huc iter, mens nostra-"

"Corpora nostra, etc. Concede nos recuperare socium, socium nostrum. Obsecro. Aperi," Trick finished, his eyes turning downcast as he thought of the spell.

"Yeah, that's the one," Tamsin said, uncaring how Trick knew the spell and only caring if he knew what it meant. "So, what's the big deal?"

"And you're sure Lauren was the one to say the spell."

"Dude, I'm sure."

"Then it's much worse than I feared. The Lauren we know is no longer, how can I put this, she is no longer aware of herself or her surroundings."

"Okay, less dramatic flare and more explanations."

Trick sighed and put his finger above his lip. "Okay, if I were to take away everything that made you the person that you are, what would you think would be left behind?"

"An empty shell."

"That's right. And what do you think would be left behind if I took away everything that made you who you are, but I kept the memories intact?"

"Like a light bulb has been turned off," Tamsin whispered, her eyes widening at the revelation.

"Precisely. The spell, no doubt given by the Morrigan, took Lauren's mind. It is, for all intent and purposes, still trapped in the Temple. Lauren, right now, is still the Lauren we've all known and loved but the emotional responses she used to get that made her  _her_ , are gone. Like a slate that has been wiped clean."

"How do I get Lauren back?" Tamsin didn't care about the explanation, she didn't care where Lauren's mind was at this particular time, all she cared about was getting Lauren back to her.

"I have an idea," Trick said, getting down from the bar and coming to stand beside Tamsin, "but you'll have to trust me."

"If it'll get me Lauren back, I'll kill for you, old man."

+++

_But this ability, the ability that comes from my heart, comes at a price..._

_Elsewhere Lauren shook the hand of the respectable doctor opposing her; a very interesting file in his hand. She would follow him to the ends of the Earth if he asked, as she had no choice. She didn't much care, she didn't think anyways, of the people in her life's reaction. Lauren much rather cared about doing something that wasn't apart of the fae any longer. She had no qualm of leaving with the doctor, she didn't care what Tamsin would think or do, and so it made the decision all the more easier._

_She simply didn't care._

+++

"Lauren!" Tamsin yelled coming into the door of the apartment, thankfully Lauren had given her a key a long time ago, with new found knowledge burned into her brain. She, however, stopped short. "Lauren?" Tamsin reached to her right as she came into the darkened apartment, even in slumber the lights to the apartment were never turned off, and it took her a moment to actually find the light switch.

Turning on the apartment's lights, Tamsin looked around questioningly until her eyes ran over the discarded phone that lay on Lauren's experiment desk. Cocking her head toward the side, Tamsin moved closer to it as if it were the carrier for the black plague and picked it up. Yes, it was indeed Lauren's phone. She wouldn't just leave her phone in her apartment, she knew how important it was for the others in the group to get into contact with her, yet here it was. So where was Lauren herself?

+++

_No, when Tamsin had made it out of the Temple, she didn't see it immediately. That light bulb burning out slowly, steadily, right in front of her. She was too relieved to be back into her arms. Too happy to be in her bed again. Tamsin didn't understand what was happening to her lover, and for all of her powers, for the strength that the Caretaker had given her unknowingly, she was too damn late to stop it..._

+++

Her questioning answer was quickly forgotten as she moved along the desk and started opening the drawers. Tamsin was frantic, insane almost, crazy. Papers were bent as she did not care to put them back in proper order before closing the drawer. Small paper clips rained down onto the floor as she accidentally moved them to the side too far and they fell out slowly. She did not stop until she found what she was most decidedly _not_ looking for.

In trembling and terrified hands, Tamsin brought the small pendant her lover never, not once since she had known her, taken off to be at eye level. The small pendant's gold sheen glinted dully in the lighting and Tamsin knew all too well what that could possibly mean. What she had hoped, with just the phone, it did _not_ mean.

"Lauren," Tamsin screamed pivoting on her heels and running toward the stairs, that pendant and the phone still clutched in either hand. "Lauren- Lauren- Lauren!" She did not stop screaming as she made her way through the home, the bathroom, then the living area. She bolted back down the stairs, still screaming Lauren's name, and opened the doors to the lower bathroom and looked into the kitchen as if Lauren was hiding in plain sight.

Tamsin's knees became weak as she clutched her lover's phone, and pendant, in her hand, as she finally stopped her searching and moved to be in front of the experiment desk again. She felt herself begin to tremble, not that she wasn't already trembling before she ran around the apartment in search for her lover, and suddenly she lost her balance. Her knees hit the ground hard and the butt of her palms took most of the damage, so that she would not hurt the pendant or the phone, along with her legs.

Lauren was gone, Tamsin thought to herself, she's gone.

Gone...


	14. Carelessness

Tamsin had pulled herself from the floor almost immediately after finding her girlfriend nowhere in sight. Instead of mourning for her, wondering any longer where she could have been, her mind had snapped to the scruffy man that had been at the door earlier that day. Suddenly, Tamsin knew without a doubt, Lauren had to be with Dr. Isaac Taft.

After raising herself from the cold linoleum, the valkyrie stumbled her way back to the Dal Riata without a second thought, her own furious ones blocking out any type of calm thinking.

Just as Tamsin barged into the door of the Dal, her green eyes darting back and forth from the vacant dance floor to the occupied wooden bar, she immediately slammed her hand down onto the old wood, and looked dead into Trick's eyes as she almost spat, "Barkeep, get your weapons ready and call the Sunshine Gang. We're going to fucking war."

+++

"Bullshit, I used to be a damn good bodyguard and tracker, we don't need the wolf," Tamsin said aggressively, her sword falling into it's sheath a little too hard. She continued to shake her head as she tied it securely around her thigh; it hung loosely on her left.

"Oh shit alert," Kenzi whispered to Hale standing beside her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the acting Ash nod slowly, his brown orbs flicking back and forth from the two females that had been fighting ever since him and the gypsy girl had gotten there.

"I'm not going to allow Lauren to be hurt because of you and your stupid vendetta with Dyson!" Bo shouted back angrily, her own dagger snapping into it's holder with a louder thud than needed.

Tamsin advanced on Bo, for the umpteenth time that meeting, and shouted, "Oh, you're not going to _allow_ it, are you! Say it's my fault Lauren is in danger again, I'll take that allow and shove it up your-"

"Lauren _is_ in some kind of danger," Trick cut in, looking at both women separately. He had been trying to calm the heated argument brewing between his granddaughter and their ally since they had both gotten into the same room and the situation was explained. "We need all the strength and abilities we can get. If we don't, Lauren will most likely perish."

The wizened man turned his gaze to Tamsin and said, "It doesn't matter who is to blame here. All that matters is that we get Lauren back." Turning to Bo, the barkeep said, "I know you're hurting that Lauren moved on, but if you don't lay your anger with the right person, the person that truly deserves it, then our plight is already over."

The women looked at each other slowly, maybe even was going to apologize to one another- Bo actually saying the words and the valkyrie saying "Yeah whatever"- but a sudden flurry of claps from the door opening of the Dal caught them off guard. Tamsin's hand went flying to her weapon, and Bo and Kenzi unsheathed and brought up their own.

"That was such an amazing speech, barkeep. So enlightening," The Morrigan said, a smile and laughter playing on her lips as she walked into the room slowly.

"You weren't invited," Tamsin said through gritted teeth, her hand still on her weapon though the other two darker haired women had already sheathed their own.

"I was just coming to congratulate the coming Ash on his indoctrination today," Evony said lightly, her eyes finding Hale and walking towards him.

Tamsin quickly stepped in the middle of them and scrunched up her nose as her own voice raised an octave in fake enthusiasm, "Glad you stopped by, the Ash appreciates your acceptance and I'm sure he'll just love it later today, it's time for you to go."

"Careful, valkyrie, you work for me, remember?" The Morrigan's voice dropped from the fake chipper octave, and she glared into the green eyes of her subordinate.

"I don't work for anyone anymore," Tamsin whispered, her anger getting the better of her in that moment. "You fucked with the only person I cared about, and so you fucked with me. Get the hell out before I scalp that disgusting mat you call hair off your head."

Evony's eyes held Tamsin's for a moment, a second that everyone in the room held their breaths, and her hand went slowly to the side of her head. Evony was no fool, she was out numbered and completely outgunned, so instead of using the hand to strike she patted down her sleek brown curls instead, cleared her throat and looked toward Hale. "I'll see you this afternoon, Ash." And with that, she turned slowly, glaring at the valkyrie one last moment, and walked out of the Dal Riata without a second word.

The room was completely silent after the Morrigan left that they could hear a pin drop, and Tamsin would have said something more toward the absent Morrigan but the gypsy girl cut into any insult she would fling.

"Holy _shitballs_ _!_ " Kenzi shouted, her smile breaking out and pulling her cheeks up further on her face. "Hot stuffed valkyrie: 1, Pencil Eyebrows: Zerooooooo."

"And the crowd goes wild, wild, wild," Hale cheered with his best friend, their hands clapping together in the ultimate high five.

"Regardless," Trick cut in, shaking his head at the friend's behavior, "that was highly unwise. The Morrigan's power can envelope all of us if she so chose."

"Yeah," Bo agreed, "I've seen it myself. It's seriously no joke."

Tamsin made a _ch_ sound with her tongue and turned on her allies, "It's her fault Lauren's in this mess. If she hadn't given Lauren the spell to get me out of the Temple, there would have been no way the doc would have gone with Taft."

"It's also my fault," A gravely voice sounded by the door. The companions turned in union to find a handsome wolf shifter coming into the Dal Riata. "I allowed Lauren to use the spell, to say it herself, to get us into the Temple. I'm also to blame along with the Morrigan."

"I'm not disputing that one, wolf."

"Tamsin-"

Tamsin's body turned away from Dyson's response, and she swept her arm across the bar to begin placing weapons in every viable location possible. She didn't give a shit what Dyson had to say, not after the way he treated her when she allowed herself to become vulnerable in front of him. If he wanted her to become the way she was when they had first met, so be it.

"I found a mass field of dead fae yesterday," Tamsin heard Dyson saying to Trick and Bo, "we think someone has been experimenting on the fae and then, after they die, burying them there. Bo, the culprit for one of the murderers was there, you've been exonerated for the killing."

"I told you I would never do something like that," Bo said, her arms crossing in front of her chest, a triumphant smile on her lips.

Tamsin had to stop herself from rolling her eyes from the succubus' inability to catch that Dyson had said _one_ of the murderers. The valkyrie thought slowly of her first betrayal to the Morrigan in lying to her about the dead fae boy Bo had murdered. After she had discerned herself that the succubus had no idea what she had done, only then did Tamsin finally begin trusting her. Not that their relationship was anything close to platonic, Tamsin thought as she side glanced the group, they rarely talked and when they did it usually started with heated words and weapons unsheathed.

She was violently pushed from her thoughts when a hard hand clamped down on her upper arm, a gruff voice in her ear, "We're going to talk about this." Before she knew it, she was being led out of the bar, the last of her weapons gleaming idly on the wooden surface.

+++

This guy really likes to hear himself talk, an uncaring Lauren thought to herself as she was led down a long hallway of the institute they were currently housed in. Dr. Taft had been on, for almost thirty minutes straight, about how the fae were on the earth only to be human experiment projects.

"They think they are better," Taft had said as he led her down the hallway, "so let the humans show just how much better we are compared to them."

The man didn't know of Lauren's ties to the fae, she had discerned herself, but he did know she was the smartest in the field that the Light Fae council had put her in charge of- on paper that was. Lauren thought she would rather go back to her research on the stem cells she had been working on, but Taft began to speak again after a long pause.

Turning, the scruffy man looked into Lauren's brown eyes with a twinkle in his own, and he said, "Lauren, your recent success with the cells was mind blowing. I feel that it's time to show you what's happening in this facility that will change the world, and what you're really working on. You shouldn't be alarmed, it can be a shock at first, God knows I was."

"I'll try to contain my surprise," Lauren said, a fake smile on her lips. She had already known there was something off about the stem cells, but she really didn't find it in herself to care much about it. If Taft wanted to show her something, by all means the man could, but she wasn't going to get bent out of shape over it.

That was, however, before Taft opened the locked metallic looking door and a wash of bright light cascaded over them both, with hints of pale blue.

Lauren's eyes opened a fraction of an inch wider at her surroundings, and the pained inhuman sounds coming forth from the room.

"Come on," Taft said, holding out a hand, "time to see what you'll been experimenting on."

+++

Dyson pushed his partner out of the back door of the Dal with such force, it took the valkyrie a moment to catch her footing. When she did, the Icelandic blonde had to run and skip a little to catch herself, she threw up her hands and grinned a humorless and wicked smile.

"What do you _want_ , Dyson?"

"I want to apologize," The wolf said, his eyes piercing green ones as he came closer. He tried to focus on the woman in front of him, but his nose was picking up every bit of garbage and spoiled food in the back alley.

"Apologize," Tamsin repeated, almost snarling the word, "you want to apologize to me, Dyson? The floor is yours." The valkyrie splayed her hands and took a small bow toward her partner and, when she raised herself up, she smiled humorlessly at him.

Just when Dyson was about to plead his case, Tamsin interrupted him, "I said the floor was yours, I didn't say I would stand here and listen to it."

"Tamsin," Dyson said, reaching out a hand to bar her path as she tried to get to the door again.

"I still have a sword and an incredibly sharp dagger, if you don't move your hand I will cut it off."

"It was wrong of me to get angry with you," Dyson said, ignoring the threat pointed at him, "I was wrong, and I'm sorry. You're my partner, Tamsin," He continued when Tamsin simply crossed her arms in front of her chest, "I'm always glad when you're by my side because I know you've got my back. So when you told me that you betrayed us... I took it too far. I can be pig headed, partner, you know that."

"You can be a flaming dick," Tamsin said, her voice staying solemn and uncaring.

"I can be a flaming dick," Dyson repeated, his brow furrowing, "I'm sorry, Tamsin."

The valkyrie sighed and looked up at her partner, "I've been trying here, Dyson. I've kept the comments to myself about you fawning after the succubus, I've been pretty supportive of it actually. But Dyson," Tamsin said, her eyes serious, "if you ever say that you should have never brought me into the fold or that I did something to destroy Lauren, I will end your life in the worst way possible."

Dyson, despite himself, gulped inaudibly and looked Tamsin up and down; she was not kidding in the least. In all of his nine hundred years on the planet, he had never been stared down as harshly, with such little remorse, as he was at that very moment.

"Let's get back inside," He said instead, "we don't want them to think we've killed each other out here."

Tamsin made a clucking sound as she sucked her teeth while she walked to the door, "Yeah, because that would totally be-"

The valkyrie immediately quieted as she heard a screech of tires come from the opening of the alleyway. Instead of opening the door to the Dal, maybe calling for reinforcements, Tamsin didn't think she needed it as she had a strong wolf shifter beside her, and a sword and dagger on her person; all that stepped out of the van hurriedly was humans anyways.

Instead of unsheathing her weapon, Tamsin took the humans for granted, "Dudes, skidding up to an alleyway is a pretty big negative. Might want to rethink that next time." Her nose had scrunched up in the mock playful tone she always bore, and when the humans did not even acknowledge her, and went to the back of their black van instead, she looked back at Dyson and shrugged.

She had been about to turn back around when Dyson shouted, "Tamsin, watch it!"

The valkyrie turned swiftly, her right hand on the hilt of her sword, when her eyes bore into the sleek black gun in the human's hand. It looked exactly like a normal gun and all Tamsin could think was that she would never get to the humans in time before they shot her in a vital area. It didn't make sense, were these men working for Taft, or were they simply trying to jack them for their money? No, she thought, they looked too scared of the partners in front of them to not know they weren't human.

"Dyson," She yelled as she saw the human was not pointing his gun at her, but at her partner. He was about to fire, he would have fired, but Tamsin quickly screamed, "Stop!" as she bore a hole into the humans.

They wouldn't have looked at her, that was the only way she could put them under her influence, but she had startled them with her scream. Both humans, their hair was covered with black beanies, and their entire clothing choice was black and dark colors.

However, before her influence could take hold of the man with the gun, he had fired his weapon. A puffing sound came from the weapon, and Tamsin's head felt suddenly woozy as she flung her arm up to her side where it began to sting. Without looking down, the valkyrie took hold of the feathered dart between her fingers, and tore it from her upper chest, throwing it to the ground with disdain.

"What do you want?" she asked, her face sinking in on itself as she used her given abilities.

"Orders are to... bring... the werewolf," one of the men said, the man that had the gun, Tamsin noticed.

Dyson snorted behind her and the valkyrie ignored him. "Do you know why?" She was beginning to feel more light headed and she knew if her influence wore off with the men still under her ability, they would take Dyson and leave her there unconscious. No one inside would ever think to break up the fight they all thought was happening outside, and they would never know Dyson would be taken until it was too late. Shaking her head slightly, she gave all her attention to the answer to her question.

"No, our orders from Dr. Taft were to bring the werewolf to the facility. We were supposed to use extreme caution."

"What's in the darts?" Dyson asked, coming up beside his partner and holding her up as he saw her knees bend slightly.

"Poison. Dr. Lewis said it'd take down two elephants with one shot. The only way to survive is to be injected with the antidote."

"Dr... Lewis..." Tamsin tried to sputter her lover's name but it failed her and she closed her eyes slightly. Leaning into Dyson, the Icelandic blonde closed her eyes for a longer moment, knowing her influence wouldn't be so readily dismissed. Mustering all the strength she could, the valkyrie pushed herself from Dyson's kind and supportive arms and said, "You will take me to the facility, and you will do exactly what you were going to do to... the werewolf."

"We will do... exactly what we were going to," Both men said in union.

"You're gonna radio in that you have caught the person you were supposed to, and that you're on your way back." Tamsin's breath was running out and she was almost gasping for each word as she spoke.

Both humans repeated her order and moved toward her, grabbing her arms and leading her to the back of the van. Getting closer to it, Tamsin saw that it was, in fact, not an ordinary van but that with a reinforced steel cage inside.

Looking back at Dyson before being vaulted into the truck, Tamsin's eyes were drooping but she choked out, "Follow us, wolf. Don't leave me hanging... partner."

"I guess this is a bad time to say that your plans really suck."

The last thing Tamsin saw before her eyes closed was Dyson smiling sadly back at her, his whole body seemed restrained, and she felt her own cheeks raise in a faint smile back towards him. She didn't know what she was doing, but she knew the van, and the humans, could lead her to Lauren Lewis. And by shitting Christ was she going to get to her doctor.

+++

For whatever reason the blonde doctor could not fathom, her hands seemed a tad bit unsteady as she placed the next slide for testing on the slab of the microscope. Lauren had not been shocked when she had entered the bright lighted room, on the contrary, she had been surprised and nothing more. It was confirmed to her that Taft had no idea she had worked, or knew anything about, the fae as that was why he thought she would break down after seeing the insane treatment done to them.

Some had their bones dislocated to see how they would deal with the pain, if it was a gene pool specific ability to ignore pain, or if it was simply because of their natural immunity as fae. Others had been tortured to the point their mind had broken, they would bang their heads slowly onto the hardened glass of their pale blue cell as they muttered words to themselves.

It was inhuman, unconscionable, wrong.

But Lauren could only seem to bring herself to care moderately about them.

"Dr. Lewis," A male voice said behind her, and she felt pressure slightly on her back where he touched her, "I have something to show you."

"Can it wait, Isaac?" Lauren asked, her voice raising an octave the way it always did when she was too busy to be interrupted.

"I think you'll want to see this." When Lauren sighed and turned, getting up from her chair, Isaac continued, "The way you handled the treatment of those monsters in the cells was astounding. I just wanted you to know that the plans have changed slightly, but it doesn't matter."

Lauren found herself being led down another long hallway, much like the one she had been guided down before, and she asked, "I'm only here to better society; helping people. But, the sample you gave me, is it from one of the subjects in the cells? It... seems familiar to me." In truth, it seemed as if it were the dying cells of a valkyrie maiden. But that was impossible, Tamsin had never spoken of any other valkyries in the vicinity, and the reports that Lauren were allowed to look at confirmed that Tamsin was the only valkyrie in the city.

Was Tamsin already caught?

Did... did she care if the valkyrie would be caught?

"And with this new subject, you'll do a lot more to help them," Taft was saying, pulling Lauren out of her thoughts. "It wasn't the one we wanted, but we've changed the opponent so it should be just fine."

"Opponent?" Lauren asked, her steps falling in suite with her doctor counterpart.

Taft took a sharp right into a room that housed all sorts of different sized computer modules and he looked back toward Lauren. "I wanted you to see the history being made. Who's stronger and who will win."

Lauren's brow furrowed when Taft picked up the remote to the monitors, and switched them all on at the same time. Turning her brown eyes onto the screens, if a certain spell had not been cast on her she would have probably gasped in horror, Lauren saw a very familiar Icelandic blonde just waking up inside, what looked like, a large metal cage. The fae's hair was in disarray around her shoulders, it had been torn from it's bun it appeared, and it fell in curtains around her face as she tried to stand. Her body had been stripped from any concealing clothing, and she wore a tattered white tank-top with loose fitting black jeans. She bore no weapons or armor, and Lauren wondered if the valkyrie knew as much.

Her fingers were splayed on the ground, at some points they tried to leave it as she stood but they would fall back toward the earth as the valkyrie wobbled over, and she looked groggy like she usually did when she had just awoken after a long nights sleep.

The arena like area she was in seemed to be bolted together manually, as the metal sheets seemed to have been pulled from another area, and there were strange building blocks of metal bars around the fenced in area that Tamsin was housed in. Lauren deduced that, if they wanted, humans could climb the makeshift stairs and drop in or tranquilize the fae in the prison.

"You stay here, you can watch her while I go and speak."

"Speak to her?"

Isaac smiled and winked toward the blonde as he ran behind the computer monitors. Suddenly, and without warning, Lauren heard heavy machinery moving and clinking as Isaac moved to the far end of the room, and soon a pair of wide set doors opened slowly into a sliver. Lauren barely saw a tall standing microphone Dr. Taft was standing in front of, and he began to talk to the valkyrie after she had finally gotten to her feet; looking around.

"I applaud your strength!" Taft yelled into the microphone. Lauren saw Tamsin react with conviction and hate in her eyes, as she looked up into the sliver but couldn't see who spoke clearly, and she spat on the ground as she listened. "You were given the antidote a full thirty minutes after the neurotoxin was introduced into your bloodstream, you're even more impressive than I previously gave you credit for."

"Why don't you come down here, or better yet, let me go up there. I'll show you how strong I can be," Tamsin said nonchalantly as she looked around her, taking in her surroundings and caring little for the man talking to her. Lauren saw her hair fall in front of her green eyes as she moved slowly looked around the cell.

Taft smiled and laughed at the banter. "No thank you," the doctor said, "that would be suicide. I know where I sit on the evolutionary food chain."

"Then what the fuck do you want with me!" Tamsin yelled, her anger getting the better of her.

"I want you," Taft said slowly and deliberately, "to prove your worth. You've taken the one I truly wanted away from me, and I want to see if you're as strong as he was." A moment passed for Taft to let it sink into the blonde what he wanted to do with her and then he continued, "Did you know there are no mortal enemy of what you are? Except, of course, time itself." He smirked and continued, "So I have given you the only thing that would be able to make you prove your worth to me."

"What the shit," Tamsin whispered to herself, but stopped her inquiry when a sudden noise from the far door in the fenced area opened. Who, and what, came out of the darkened holding room, was far from what Tamsin, and Lauren, ever would have thought possible.

+++

_"Acacia, keep your guard up!" Thomisina shouted toward her maiden-sister, her own sword raised above her head to defend herself from the deathly sword that had clashed into hers._

_"Don't tell me how to fight, Thomisina, I'm the one who taught you, remember?"_

_"Já, Já,"* Thomisina said, her beautiful smile piercing her lips as she flung her assailant's sword from hers. Without a pause in her languid movements, Thomisina used the exact stance and motion her mentor had taught her, and cut the belly of her opponent quickly after spinning around to gain momentum._

_Ringlets of blood hit the dirt and spurts of grass as his life force left him, and Thomisina pushed his lifeless body, which was on it's knees, down onto it's back with a swift kick to the shoulder. Looking around, she saw her mentor had moved swiftly to the side of her own enemy and sliced the back of his leg open. The man went to his knees with a harsh cry, and Acacia ended his suffering with a quick flick of her sword across his throat._

_"These Trojans do not have any concept for battle," The mentor said, flinging her sword behind her and to the side to wash it of blood._

_Thomisina watched as a long line of crimson liquid was washed into the sand, and she smiled down at her beloved sister. "But they have scrumptious wine and women."_

_"Cheeky bitch," The woman laughed. "That they do, my sister." Acacia's blue eyes were twinkling with light when she said, "It is strange to have such bloodshed over a woman."_

_Thomisina looked back toward her mentor, as she had looked in the direction of the city of Troy, and said laughably, "But have you seen such a woman as Helen of Sparta?"_

_"Thomisina," Her mentor tsked, "it does not matter how beautiful a woman is, you do not throw away yourself and your armies to retrieve her."_

_"Have you never been in love, Acacia?" Thomisina asked sarcastically, playfully even, but her mentor took her inquisition seriously._

_"Love is a trivial thing, Thomisina. Learn that lesson now while you are young, it will do nothing for you in your lifetime. Relationships are abhorrent and should never be looked at with longevity. This war if folly," Her mentor said finally as she scoffed, her dark blonde hair falling in front of her face as it had escaped her bun at the beginning of the battle._

_Thomisina's own blonde hair fell in front of her eyes as she looked at her blade. She had never heard her mentor speak so harshly over something so small, but she shrugged her shoulders after she saw her maiden-sister start walking back toward their camp on the beach._

_"Should we not rally the troops and attack?" Thomisina asked, her own blood lust getting the better of her as she walked behind her mentor. "There is still fighting amongst us, we should go to their aid."_

_"They will not die simply because we are not there, Thomisina." Acacia didn't even turn as she addressed her sister. "We are valkyries, we do not care for the lives of mortal men. We are simply here to keep our skills honed, and to assist in history that is being shaped as we speak. We are the bringers of death," Her mentor continued, "we do not care to keep others alive. Much of these men are honorable, we will be called multiple times to retrieve some of their souls."_

_"And bring them up to Valhalla in epic glory," Thomisina said, her head nodding much as the child she was would from hearing the same thing for the hundredth time that week, "I know my duty."_

_"It is one thing to know your duty and to act upon it, Thomisina. You do not cut off your wings every time you come to this earthly plane for the helvíti** of it. We do not make friends, we keep ourselves distant from everyone else, fae or human alike, and we under no circumstances fall in love with one. We are simply silent observers of time, here to lend a hand to whomever our God tells us to, do you understand?"_

_Acacia turned suddenly and bore a hole into Thomisina to make sure the girl was listening to her._

_"I understand," The girl said, her hands going up to her sides in mock surrender, telling her mentor she had heard every word and had not been mimicking her, with horrid faces, behind her back. "No friendships, no love interests, no physical or emotional ties to the earthen plane," Thomisina repeated to put the final nail into her coffin so that her mentor would get off her back._

_"Good," Acacia said, her gray eyes piercing the younger valkyrie's, "we must feast tonight in honor of our small victory."_

_"What victory?" The girl asked as they finally entered their camp._

_"Achilles has killed Troilus, son of Priam, before the age of twenty years, ensuring that Troy will fall. Our plight shall end soon, dear sister."_

_"And we will have admittance into the kingdom of Valhalla with Achilles, Hector, and Paris' souls?"_

_"That we will, girl."_

_"Then, by all means, let us feast in his honor!" Thomisina yelled, her hand smacking the back of her mentor as they walked through the multiple black tents that were perched into the sand of the beach._

_Thomisina would remember all that her mentor had said to her that day, as it was the defining moment of her life after they had retrieved the souls they had come there for, and it would thus lead her further in life with those defining rules. She loved her mentor, however, Thomisina really did love her, and she would never soon forget the many things the woman had taught her in her youth._

_And as the valkyrie girl turned into a valkyrie maiden herself, she had lived up to her promise to remember everything her mentor had told her. She never put herself into relationships, never let herself feel for others from the earthen plane- or the ethereal plane of Valhalla for that matter- and she quite liked it that way._

_That was, however, until recently._

_+++_

"Acacia?" Tamsin asked, after shaking her head from her memories, as her mentor stumbled out of the darkness, her eyes blinking rapidly at the sudden light change around her. Her left hand was completely gone, leaving a stump in it's place, and Tamsin's anger raged at what the dispicable human man could have done to her. She had been locked up for a long time, Tamsin thought as the woman looked around her first, taking in the trees, grass, and darkened sky around them, before she even looked toward the valkyrie. "Acacia, it is me," Tamsin tried again, her voice cracking from the emotion swimming in her mind from witnessing her mentor, and friend, for the first time in centuries.

"It is time," The voice said through the microphone Tamsin had heard earlier, "to prove your worth."

Tamsin would have jumped back, but she saw in her peripheral vision someone moving onto the small platforms on either side of the fenced in cage, a metal bolted wall in the back of them, and they had dropped in something that made a clanging sound on the hard foam of the ground, as they clashed together. Tearing her gaze away from her mentor, the Icelandic blonde slowly let her gaze travel down to what she knew already to be there.

Swords. But it wasn't just any swords, Tamsin found, it looked almost identical to the ones she and her mentor had used multiple times to hack down their opponents.

"No," Tamsin whispered, her mind traveling at a thousand miles per hour as she comprehended what she was supposed to do to prove herself, "no, I'm not doing this. Acacia, look at me, we don't have to do this!"

Tamsin's mentor did not hear her as, slowly, she bent down and picked up one of the fallen swords. Holding it in her hand expertly, but loosely, the woman's solemn blue eyes slowly looked up and down the blade.

"Fight to the death, he says, or more pain. I will fight... to the death." Without another word, Acacia's blue eyes pierced Tamsin's almost transparent green ones, much as she did in the olden days when she was trying to get her point across to the girl, and her face suddenly turned a ghostly pale as her eyes sunk into themselves. "You do not wish to fight me. You will stay still as I skewer you, Thomisina."

"You... remember me," Tamsin said through gritted teeth, trying with all her might to fend off the mental attack her mentor had flung at her, "if you remember me, you know that this is wrong. Please, Acacia, I will not allow him to hurt you any longer. Trust me, my maiden-sister."

"You will not fight me," The woman said again, her sunken eyes never leaving Tamsin's face.

Before Tamsin could say anything more, the wizened valkyrie made her move. Raising her hand above her, along with her sword, she ran to her sister and let out a war cry much that Tamsin had heard so long ago. Her footing was quick, but Tamsin's was quicker. Swiftly ducking and rolling, the Icelandic blonde quickly retrieved her own sword and spun it around her after she had successfully rolled away from her mentor, making sure the woman could not skewer her from her acrobatic move.

Standing erect, Tamsin's green eyes pierced her mentor with sadness and rage at what had been done to her, but she tried to get through to the woman again, "Remember the time we fought with the Trojans, sister," Tamsin said, her throat constricting with emotion, but she dared not show any to give the despicable man that was no doubt watching her the satisfaction.

When Acacia did not respond back, only stared at the ground Tamsin stood at, she continued, "Remember when you told me to never get attached to anyone on this earthen plane, and-and that it was folly to fight for something as ridiculous as a female? I know you remember our times together, Acacia, you just have to fight. Fight for me, sister. For me!"

Acacia's eyes traveled up the young valkyrie's body to her eyes and she said, "Your eyes, Thomisina-sister, are not that of the valkyrie's. You are using your power on me, aren't you? Then why... why are they purple and not dead looking?"

"What?" Tamsin asked, but before she could complete her question, her mentor attacked again.

Their weapons clashed again, Tamsin bending her knees and forcing her mentor off her, and she spun swiftly to add momentum to her next strike. Acacia blocked her easily, her own sword having the momentum from the same move preformed, and both had to disengage from the force of their collective attack.

Acacia let out a battle cry as she caught her footing quickly and bolted toward the younger valkyrie. Her sword was to her lower side, trailing behind her almost, to add yet more momentum to the attack when she would swing it up as she would try to disarm or dismember Tamsin with the one swing.

Knowing this, Tamsin quickly sidestepped the attack, moving to be immediately beside her mentor, and she let out her own cry as she swung her weapon presumably into the head of the opposing valkyrie.

The wizened valkyrie, even with most of her faculties missing, knew the attack was coming and swiftly turned, moving her feet backwards and planting them swiftly into the foam of the fake ground, and brought her own sword up to clash harshly into Tamsin's.

The young valkyrie heard the disgusting laughter from the man above and beside them in the observatory, and she wanted to put her sword into a place that didn't see much sunlight on his person.

"Listen to me," Tamsin said, her eyes shining into her mentor's as they were deadlocked, "please, do not do this!"

"There is no other way. Thomisina, please kill me."

"W-what?" Tamsin almost lost her footing on her stance, and she had to readjust her position before the deadlock would be lost.

"You are young and strong, you hold the eyes of the Firsts. I am old, mad, I am of no use to our God any longer."

"There is more to life than being of use to someone else, Acacia!"

The woman smiled kindly, as if she were completely lucid for the last few moments of her life, and said, "Defend yourself, child, or be killed. Keep your guard up, you cheeky bitch!"

Without another word, the woman quickly pushed toward Tamsin, breaking the deadlock, and she raised her weapon to cut off the younger valkyrie's head.

Tamsin, her eyes burning with unshed tears, spun around swiftly as her knees bent, and let out a cry of anguish as she brought her sword up and along the belly of her mentor. Without breaking her languid movement, and to make her beloved sister's passing easier, Tamsin stood swiftly and held the back of the woman's neck with her left hand as she pierced the woman's heart with her sword.

Her breath caught, they stood there- her mentor looking up toward the sky, Tamsin looking sidelong at the woman's face- and, finally, she slowly bent to place her mentor onto the ground, her eyes searching the woman's face to see if she were in any pain. What Tamsin found, however, was far from it, nothing resembling the emotion; all she saw was happiness.

"Thank you, Thomisina... you have... freed me. I will live with our God for many..."

"Acacia, please," Tamsin pleaded as streams of blood cascaded down her bawled hand as she held the wound around the sword, tears she never shed passing down the crevices of her face as she looked on to her dying friend, sister, comrade, and mentor.

"Goodbye, Thomisina," Acacia said, one final time, as her blue eyes closed loosely in eternal slumber.

Tamsin choked out a tortured sob, one that she had never before witnessed herself in her life, as she looked on at her now dead mentor. "No," She whispered, her head falling to the lithe of skin of the wizened valkyrie's shoulder and neck, "No, please no," She repeated, her eyes squeezed shut as she willed her mentor to take another breath; to show some sign that she was still alive.

When she didn't, when Tamsin found no sign of movement or life in her maiden-sister, her transparent green, and wet, eyes turned toward the darkened sky and she screamed.

She screamed as if her life depended on it.

Tamsin screamed bloody murder.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Já is Icelandic which means Yes in English.
> 
> **Helvíti is Icelandic which means Hell in English.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, only a true sadist could say that ;), and stay tuned for the final chapter in Serenity coming up soon!


	15. Fulfillment

_"Keep near the horses and you should be fine," Tamsin shouted to her progeny who was riding beside her strangely. It was the girls first battle, any real battle, and the valkyrie-maiden was having a hard time trying to control the girl's anxiety. "As valkyries," Tamsin whispered, steering her black horse in closely to her charge, "we go into battle with wicked smiles on our lips and a hearty laugh in our throats. Why the hell are you anxious, girl?"_

_"I-I'm just not cut out to b-be a valkyrie," the girl, Ætta said, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the reins of the bridle of her horse._

_“You were born a valkyrie, of course you're cut out for it.” Tamsin's green eyes pierced gray and she tried to convey, without telling the girl, her first battle had been close to the one they were fighting now. Where the valkyrie-maiden had felt giddy and a swell of blood lust, she was still sorely anxious before the bloodshed actually began._

_“Tamsin-sister, I really do not wish to fight. Can we not simply go back to Valhalla and take punishment fitting the crime of desertion?”_

_Tamsin's eyebrow raised in question and she gritted her teeth as her horse steered away from the young valkyrie. Getting in close again, she said, “Ætta, we can not enter the kingdom of Valhalla until we receive the soul we were meant to accompany there. That is-”_

_“The only reason we cut off our wings and come to this earthen plane,” Ætta interrupted, with a groan as she looked toward the passing trees._

_If not for Tamsin's duty of being the girl's mentor, she would have fallen off her horse laughing from the girl's interruption. She reminded Tamsin of herself at that age, and, instead of laughing, she simply grinned and looked towards her left. A string of trees and small stone houses lined her sight and she watched side long as many other soldiers made their way in ranks behind and in front of her._

_Tamsin's mind drifted to the war they were fighting at Boudicca's, and of her raped daughter's, behalf. She wondered if her progeny knew of their mission to, in the end, take Boudicca herself as the honorable soul to Valhalla. The valkyrie-maiden knew the girl understood why the war was being waged, the reason they were participants in it, and her duty as a valkyrie, but there was still that meekness that Ætta portrayed._

_Her own mentor's words from the great Trojan War rang inside her skull and Tamsin had to shake her head softly to expel the thoughts. She did not wish to be so cruel to her charge, though Tamsin was just as strong from receiving the same speech centuries ago, and she eyed the frail looking girl sidelong._

_Ætta's beautiful brown hair trailed behind her in wisps as her gray eyes bore ahead of her anxiously. The girl was small, almost dainty, but Tamsin knew if she wanted she could take her legs or arms and choke the life out of a person with ease. Her frail looking arms could hold an impressive amount of weight, and when Ætta swung a sword, it was a proven dismemberment._

_The armor she wore was the same as the others, cloth, but instead of loosely fitting her as it did Boudicca herself, it was form fitting and caressing every curve. She wore only a single blade on her left side. It clanked slightly every time the girl's body hit back down on her horse as the steed galloped, and she looked nothing like a frail girl but as a real warrior._

_“Don't you ever get tired of warfare? Do you not ever think your mind will break like his?” Ætta asked suddenly, breaking Tamsin out of her own thoughts._

_Looking over, the blonde valkyrie eyed the man that her companion had pointed out, and winced at the sight of him. The man, Tamsin faintly remembered his name being Aelfreda, had lost his wife and daughter only a few days ago to robbers and rapists, and he had been one of Boudicca's first choices to avenge her own daughters on this campaign._

_Aelfreda had this look of unease written across his face as he rode his steed, and his eyes were wide and his body trembling. His hands were tightly around the reins, even more tightly than Ætta held hers, and Tamsin could see him muttering to himself._

_After coming in, after arriving home from work with food in tow, to see his wife and daughter dead, their bodies violated- and still being violated- by the Romans, the man had lost his mind. He had dropped the bread for their supper, pulled out his small knife, and made a move to kill the men in his home._

_Too bad for him those men had been trained officers of the army of Gaius Paulinus, the Roman governor of those parts._

_Aelfreda was a bloodied pulp before the end of the carnage, his manhood stripped of him as he was forced to watch the mutilation of his dead family, and his sanity ripped from his mind. Now the carcass of the man in front of the two valkyries seemed to be the only thing remaining of the once proud Aelfreda._

_Tamsin looked over and said, “We are valkyries, Ætta. We were born to excel in combat. As such, our minds are almost incapable of breaking and losing our sanity.”_

_“But it could happen,” Ætta pressed._

_“Yes, girl, it could happen. But we are not as weak as humans, our minds would not cease to function as theirs do.”_

_“Then what would happen?”_

_Tamsin sighed and straightened her back a little as she relaxed; cursing herself slightly of having to be placed with an overly expressive and curious girl. “We would most likely fall into a state of despair of our own. But instead of completely losing ourselves, we would rationalize the most radical of behaviors. Aelfreda,” Tamsin whispered, “only wants vengeance for his daughter and wife; he only sees the color red of hate. But valkyries, we would not be hateful, we would only want to protect the thing that was taken from us, or something close to it. We would use our abilities, we would even give up our immortality or lives, for it.”_

_Her green eyes dimmed slowly in remembrance and Ætta stayed quite for a short period to let her mentor's memories cascade over her._

_“You have witnessed this happening before?”_

_Tamsin's green eyes pierced gray and she said, “Only once in my lifetime.”_

_“How did-”_

_“Watch yourself, Ætta,” Tamsin interrupted, “we are beginning the last trek of our ride to warfare. We will have to split when we get into the trees, but find me again when we reach the city. Do you understand?”_

_The trees of the dense forest surrounding Camulodunum was coming to greet the army faster than the girl had hoped and she turned her gray eyes towards her mentor, squared her jaw, and nodded curtly. Watching, with little anxiety now, Ætta eyed her mentor as she nodded back to her, looked forward again and whipped the reigns of the bridle. Her horse immediately neighed and moved faster, swiftly escaping into the trees and out of sight faster than the girl could follow._

_Squaring her own jaw, she looked down at her brown steed, and urged him on, into the tree line, for her first battle she would ever fight._

+++

Tamsin could feel her biceps and forearms being gripped harshly, and her lower body dragging across a rough, yet sleek, floor. Her eyes were closed, her head swam with memories and thoughts, her right hand pulsated with heat, and she couldn't bring herself to wonder where on earth she was being dragged to.

Just as she reached some type of conclusion, as her eyes were opening slightly, the hands gripping her tightened ever so slightly and threw her into what could have only been a hexagon like cell. Her hands hit the ground of the cell harshly, but she barely felt it, and instead of getting up immediately to assess her surroundings, Tamsin pushed herself up slowly and sat crossed legged in the middle of the locked chamber. The cell felt of death, of torture and of pain, and it took Tamsin all she had to move that itch of realization to the back of her mind.

Looking down, she realized she was holding something. Tamsin's eyes saw crimson red as her right hand, which she held, was bleeding slightly. The thin line she perceived made her hand sticky, yet slick, with new blood washing in with the old. No thought was given to stopping the flow of blood and she looked down at it with little interest. Suddenly Tamsin's mind followed back to the duel between her and her mentor, of her squelching the sword into the woman's heart, and of her holding the blade stupidly as she tried to stop the flow of blood from the wound. She must have cut herself as she held the sword, and the scar was such a nasty one that she would probably sport it for her life, until of course she died and was reincarnated.

But, Tamsin thought slowly with little interest, I used my power and didn't faint and it didn't hurt; bad. It doesn't take a genius to know that that shouldn't have happened. What the hell was done to me?

She continued to think of what could have been injected into her in her unconscious state when she entered the van earlier that day, but the thoughts slowly crumbled and she could do nothing but stare at her bloodied palm, it's contents spilling onto the floor in rapid drips. Her ears picked up pains and groans coming from around her in the long running room, but Tamsin couldn't pull her eyes, or her mind, from her fresh insanity.

That was, however, until-

“T-Tamsin?” A small voice rang out in the cell next to her, a voice the valkyrie-maiden would recognize in over two thousand years. It had probably been exactly that long since hearing the voice, actually.

Light suddenly flashed into her vision, bright light that was way too intense in the cells, and a pale blue wash of color cascaded over her. Her green eyes slowly, so painstakingly slowly, raised themselves from the only color she had perceived in the last few moments, and moved to the right side of her circular cell.

Just as she witnessed long brunette hair, just as her eyes made contact with gray ones, just as she observed the slight scar on the girl's right cheek where a blade had pierced it slightly in her very first battle; just as Tamsin recognized the frail and beaten looking girl in the cell next to her, the valkyrie's mind was gone in that instant.

Breathing heavily, more heavily than she really should have been, Tamsin's green eyes slowly moved back to the front of her cell, uncaring and unfocused, and she slowly leaned to the side. Placing a strong hand onto the ground of her cell, bringing her legs up to her so the knees barely touched her stomach, she let her head meet the ground softly.

Letting out a slow and deliberate breath, Tamsin the strong Valkyrie, let her mind drift.

+++

Lauren had gotten away from Taft after the presentation of the two valkyrie's battling each other. She watched, her eyes dim, as Tamsin brought her sword into the older valkyrie's chest. Her brown eyes dimmed further when the valkyrie had screamed, her head falling back and screeching toward the sky, and then her forehead falling onto the older woman's shoulder.

Taft had come over to her after the mechanical door had closed again, and he put his arm around her as if they had just won the jack-pot. Smiling and laughing, he had patted her shoulder one last time, and ran off out of the presentation room, leaving Lauren by herself.

The only thing she could think of doing, though she didn't know why, was to go into the cell room the man had showed her earlier that day. So, instead of following a giddy Taft, Lauren slowly walked down the long hallways she had immediately memorized, and found herself heading to the metal door she had first seen at the beginning of the day. Opening it with the key code she had also memorized from Taft, she entered the too bright room, pale blue accents of color cascading over her. She had been in the cell room for no more than a minute when she heard a weak voice say her name; Lauren half expected to be yelled at, but no, it was simply small and meek.

“Lauren?” Tamsin half whispered, half asked, as she heard someone come into the room.

“Tamsin,” Lauren said, almost running to the cell and placing her hands onto the glass.

“I don't suppose you're part of a rising rescue,” the valkyrie said rather than asked, her lips drawing into a humorless smile as she looked up slowly to her lover, her head still on the ground of her cell.

“I had no idea he was going to do this, Tamsin,” Lauren said instead, her brown eyes falling slowly to what the Icelandic blonde was staring at: her bloodied hand. The human looked down to the cell floor and saw sporadic drops of blood mostly in front of the valkyrie, a majority smeared from her movements, and concluded it was from the same palm and Tamsin had sustained no other injuries.

“You're not yourself,” Tamsin whispered, her eyes leaving her lover and falling toward the ground again. “It's completely understandable. I should have protected you...”

“You did protect me,” Lauren blurted, though she didn't know why.

Tamsin's green eyes flicked up to brown ones, wondering maybe if the curse had been broken, but knew immediately that it couldn't have been and that this wasn't some fairy tale. She'd have to fix Lauren herself instead of hoping for a damn miracle.

“Where is the man that put me here?”

“I don't know. He ran off after the presentation of your fighting abilities.”

Tamsin chuckled humorlessly. “Presentation. Like it's some fucking game.”

“Ma'am?” A small voice came from beside them, interrupting anything Lauren could say to ease Tamsin's words; as if she would have.

Lauren looked over, almost surprised that anyone would address her, and found a small looking woman, almost a child, in the cell beside Tamsin's. Moving closer to it, leaving Tamsin for just a moment, she peered into the glass and bent down a ways to be at eye level to the girl.

“Yes?”

The girl in the cell slowly disengaged from the back wall of the confinement unit, and looked up toward the blonde woman. “You know the Commander?”

“Commander?” Lauren asked, looking back toward Tamsin with a questioning eye. The woman would not look at her, she was barely visible from the ground, and Lauren simply looked back toward the girl in the cell. “Yes, Tamsin and I know each other.”

“Can you ask her to talk to me then? I-I don't know what I've done but she won't even look at me.”

Lauren's questioning look increased in intensity and she asked, “Who are you?”

“She's someone I knew a long time ago,” Tamsin said, interrupting the conversation only slightly. “Please help her get out of here and get proper medical treatment, Lauren,” Tamsin added hollowly, her eyes never leaving the floor.

“I'll do whatever I-”

Lauren was interrupted by a flurry of claps coming from beside her, through what must have been another door at the end of the room. “You're magnificent! Isn't she magnificent?” Isaac Taft asked, coming into view. “So caring about your sister in arms, that's what you call each other, right? Anyways, that's how I knew who you were.” Taft looked down into the cell he walked by, looking mildly at the frail girl, and the latter backed away to the far wall. “She gave up everything in time. Took awhile, that one, but in the end she told me everything.”

“If you touch her again,” Tamsin said, her words holding little promise as she didn't bother to stand, “I will end your life.”

“You are simply amazing,” Isaac said, coming over to Tamsin's cell and looking down, not even bothering with Lauren. “At first I thought you wouldn't be strong enough, but oh boy you've shown me wrong. I can't wait to have what you are.”

“What are you talking about?”

Taft smiled and looked over to Lauren for the first time after entering the room. Moving to her and taking her bicep in hand, the man held her close as he led her back to the frail valkyrie's cell. “We're going to do great things, Lauren, but I can't have you wandering any longer. Your cruelty before was endearing, but you obviously know this one.”

“You have no idea what you're messing with, Taft.”

The man laughed and almost threw the woman into the cell. “In a few hours, you'll help me actualize a dream I have been waiting for my whole life. That is more than enough for me.” Taft smiled as he locked the cell again with a flick of the wrist and he stood back, admiring his work. “It's going to be a good day.”

+++

Tamsin heard, faintly, Lauren calling her name after Taft had left them for almost thirty minutes. She didn't want to be rude- since when did she care about not being rude?- and instead, she lifted herself from the ground slowly and got to her feet.

“I'm sorry, Tamsin,” Lauren said again for the third time they had been there, “he lied to me. I thought I was doing something good.”

“It's not your fault, Lauren,” Tamsin responded, placing the side of her head onto the glass as she hunched over slightly. She knew Lauren could barely feel the emotion needed to feel sorry, and so she found it of little use to antagonize her reactions further. Instead she said, “The cavalry will come soon enough, and they'll get us out.” Tamsin looked into Lauren's brown eyes and asked, “What does he want to do with me?”

“I don't know. He had me preparing an enzyme from a mature succubus' immune system. Is-is Bo here?”

Before Tamsin could answer, it would have been a definite no if they were still locked up, but a sound and a flurry of words knocked whatever response she could come up with aside.

“Is my daughter safe? My daughter...”

Lauren, and Tamsin, squinted their eyes, even though the good doctor could see 20/20, and almost yelled, “Aife?”

“Bo is my daughter... my daughter. Is my Bo safe?”

“B-Bo is fine, Aife,” Lauren said, her eyes traveling toward Tamsin and back to the succubus. “Tamsin, this is Bo's mother.”

“Yeah, I got that part by 'my daughter' being said over and over again.”

Lauren made a face and Tamsin shrugged halfheartedly, and for a moment the valkyrie thought the old Lauren was back.

“Aife, do you know a way out of here?” Tamsin asked, her own need to save the two women in the cell reaching her mind at last.

“It's called Death,” Aife said, a laugh in her throat, and she bent her head down a ways as she glared at the valkyrie, “and it's coming for you.”

+++

“I am still not okay with leaving Kenzi, Trick, and Hale to square off against the Morrigan,” Bo said for the umpteenth time as they walked the hidden road to the institute. Bo had used Lauren's phone to trace where the woman was, and in consequence, where Tamsin and the others were. After Kenzi herself had told her, after all of the other males had tried, to 'Go get her Hotpants' did she finally agree to leave them there to prepare for Hale's coronation to the full Ash.

“If we didn't, Tamsin and Lauren might perish. Kenzi and the others can handle themselves, Bo.” Dyson was calm headed about almost all situations and Bo had to nod her head to show she agreed with him.

“I can't help feel that something bad is going to happen.”

“I'm here, Bo. Whatever happens, I'll always be by your side.”

Bo looked sidelong at the man and she smiled as she said, “Dyson... thank you.” Looking in front of her again, just as they passed a bend in the trees, Bo said, “Okay, don't pussy out on me. You go wolf, and I'll stop any of the other guards.”

Dyson nodded and began to fall back in preparation of shifting. Running up to the males with guns, her eyes wide with terror, Bo suddenly put up a face of fear and said, “Oh my gosh, I am so glad you're here. There was a big, like, wolf in the woods! I was so scared I thought I might-”

A scream ripped through the guard's ranks and Bo suddenly kicked the man she had been talking to in the leg, as his men had immediately looked toward the scream and didn't see the succubus attack him. His knees hit the dirt and she quickly chi-sucked him into unconsciousness. Turning her head slightly, her eyes an electric blue and her teeth bared, she noticed all of the guards pointing their weapons in different directions; it was as if there were multiple enemies and they were panicking.

Dyson was fast, and had taken out over four of the ten guards in a matter of moments, as Bo took out the stragglers. Kicking out their knees as she came behind them, she would pull back their hair so she could chi-suck them into oblivion.

Their strategy worked, more than usual, and soon all of the guards were dead, dying, or unconscious in the wake of the two powerful fae.

“One of our plans _actually_ worked,” Bo said happily as she saw Dyson, he was putting on his vest after he had rushed to put on his pants, come from the bend in the woods.

The man smiled with real mirth, his blue eyes watching as likewise blue dwindled back into gorgeous brown, and said, “Hopefully there aren't anymore guards inside.”

“From what Tamsin said of this Taft guy, I don't think there were many people ready to sign up for the job.”

Dyson chuckled, he was happy to be around Bo again as he had not been for some time, and looked up at the large building they were just entering.

I'm coming partner, he thought with finality, I'm coming.

+++

Tamsin awoke disorientated and hurting. Her body was laid down onto a steel table and she was immediately aware how her ankles, wrists, and chest were covered with likewise steel restraints. Her mind tried to fathom what had happened, on where Lauren was, but she quickly forgot as Isaac Taft walked through a side door into the sterilized room.

A guard Tamsin slowly recognized walked beside the small man and said, “She took out eight of my men before we managed to sedate her.”

“All in the name of science,” Taft simply said as he walked over to the table. “The time is almost upon us,” he said, looking down at the valkyrie. The man was barely aware how the guard had looked at him with contempt.

“I'm not... usually the one in the noble mood, but do whatever you want with me and let the others go.”

Taft shook his head, laughing as he looked down at the restrained woman. “My brother would have loved meeting you. Did you know he was the one fascinated with Norse mythos, I was more of a Greek kid myself.” He smiled, a sad smile Tamsin saw, but a smile nonetheless. “I can not wait to be the recipient of all that you have; all that you feel.”

Tamsin's dreary eyes looked square into Taft's, her nose scrunching and falling, and she whispered, “Trust me, it's not all that it's cracked up to be.”

Isaac overlooked this and smiled again. “I'll see you on the other side, my friend.”

+++

“This place is like a maze,” Bo said, out of breath for a moment, as she stopped at a steel door that seemed to be locked. Looking to the pass code and key card pad, she looked back toward Dyson, who was the one that had taken a bloodied pass off of one of the guards inhabiting the building.

“We're never going to find Lauren and Tamsin if we keep going like this.”

“Well maybe if you didn't kill so many of the guards,” Bo said, her tone rising a few octaves as she didn't take in a breath.

“Hey, you weren't complaining when you chi-sucked the other half.”

Bo groaned and said, “I'm sorry, Dyson, I just wish I knew if Lauren was, at least, okay.”

“If something bad had happened to her, you would know, Bo.”

“Are you sure?” Bo asked, her brown eyes piercing blue. “Because when she was wammied and lost all of her feelings, I didn't feel anything. I haven't felt anything ever since we...”

“I know you still love her, Bo. It's not a crime.”

The succubus shook her head. “She's in love with Tamsin and I'm happy for her.”

“Just as I knew you would say,” Dyson said, a smile on his lips at how well he knew the woman that he loved.

Playfully punching him in the shoulder, Bo looked back at the door and said, “Well maybe this is the room they're being kept in. Time to see what's behind curtain number three.”

Dyson nodded as he pulled out the key card from his pant's pocket. Holding it to the pad slowly, and rubbing the rectangular piece of plastic downward, they waited until the green light and the small beep sounded to show they had successfully gained access to the room. What they found there, however, was far from what they had ever would have expected.

+++

Lauren walked into the surgery room, the theater room Taft called it, uncaring of the procedure she was ordered to do; or else the valkyrie and the rest of the fae would suffer greatly if she refused. Seeing Tamsin on the table made the human backtrack slowly, the valkyrie having been stripped of her shirt was barely covered by the black bra she wore, but it was soon forgotten as she saw Isaac laying on an exact replicate table the Icelandic blonde laid on, and he was watching her with amusement.

Squaring her shoulders, Lauren walked over to the table and put a comforting gloved hand on her once-upon-a-time lover.

Groggily looking up Tamsin said, “Lauren, you don't have to do this. Release me, and I can make you feel better. I can make this go away, Lauren.”

“Your pain will be over soon, Tamsin, any movement to get away is futile,” Lauren said, a smile still on her lips.

“Lauren... why?”

“Because I've injected you with six doses of anesthetic. And soon, you won't be in this world any longer.”

“Please, don't do this,” Tamsin whispered, any hope she had left, which was only a light flicker of flame, dwindling out in that very moment.

Lauren squared her jaw and looked over to a watching Taft. “Are you ready, Isaac?” When the man nodded, a smile on his lips, Lauren walked to the opposite side of the table, barring his eye sight, and took a sharp syringe in hand. “Extracting bone marrow,” The woman said, placing the paper mask over her nose and mouth and looking down toward the flesh of the belly she was supposed to extract the marrow from.

Without a second thought, Lauren took the syringe and plunged it into Tamsin's side, barely caring that the valkyrie screamed bloody murder for the second time that day.

+++

“Where would we go?” Aife asked, her hand rising to the glass as she tried to caress her daughter she had not seen in so long.

“Anywhere but here,” the strong succubus said, her eyes focusing on her mother's outstretched hand and she put up her own to press against the glass.

When Bo and Dyson had first entered the room, they heard the groans and pained gasps inside immediately. It wasn't until they walked in, however, did they see the full carnage before them. Fae, all fae, were either bleeding or broken, their hands to their faces as they tried to comprehend what was happening, hoping for some reprieve from their madness. Others just seemed lost, their appendage would be taken, and they would be staring at it with fixed horror.

They would not have any idea where to start if it wasn't for Bo seeing her mother, or rather, her mother calling to her from her cell. Dyson and the succubus had both run over to Aife's imprisonment, her daughter asking her how she had gotten there.

Bo's face had fallen into despair when she realized that her mother had been taken for almost two full years then, being repeatedly tortured and prodded for information on what the most powerful fae was and who would be the catalyst of such strength.

“I gave him the wolf,” Aife had said, her voice turning suddenly scared and confused. “No, I didn't give my Bo up, why are you here, I didn't give my baby up.”

The younger brunette wanted to kill anything in sight from what had been done to her mother for the second time in the woman's life, and instead opted to let free all of the trapped fae, who were all willing to help each other- whether light or dark- walk and get to safety.

“I will be back for you, mom,” Bo said as she realized the key code she had picked up from one of the guards didn't work for certain fae's cells. It must have been on a certain frequency and needed a different set of codes as Aife was the strongest, and most valuable, fae there. Instead, Bo decided to press her hand against the glass, looking up toward her trapped mother, as all of the other imprisoned fae had gotten free of their cells.

It wasn't until a young woman, she looked much like a girl in Bo's mind, came up to them, asking if they had seen anyone by the name of Tamsin did the companion's ears perk up.

“How do you know Tamsin?” Dyson asked, paying the girl in front of him his full attention.

“Please, sir, do you know where I can find her? The human woman was sent away with her and they haven't come back. I must find Tamsin.”

So off Dyson went, after a look of acceptance from Bo, with the frail girl to find Tamsin and, possibly, Lauren. She knew they would be waiting outside of the door for her after she was done, and so she cut her reunion with her mother down to a laughing amount of a few sentences.

After Bo had promised to come back to retrieve her ailing mother, and Aife smiled back and called Bo her child again, the succubus left heatedly, barely looking back toward Dyson and the girl that was waiting for her outside of the door.

“I'm going to kill that bastard,” she said, aiming her remark at Dyson on the subject of Taft, and the wolf didn't dare dispute her.

“T-the library is this way, I can feel death coming from this room,” the girl said after awhile of walking in silence, thankfully they had not met any more guards, and she pointed toward a set of open double doors.

Bo cracked her knuckles and furiously said, “There's going to be a whole lot'ta death real soon in this room. Whatever he is, it needs to die.”

Dyson and the girl, for the sake of their own lives, said nothing as they all entered the room together.

+++

Tamsin awoke, for the third time that day, groggy and disorientated. The side of her stomach hurt like a bitch, but she quickly forgot it as she felt her appendages were not restrained by the metal rods from before.

“You need to get up and go after Taft,” a honey voice said to her.

Blonde hair that cascaded down to her in ringlets blurred her vision, and Tamsin slowly reached up her hand to caress that blonde hair. A smile spilled out onto her lips as, just for a moment, Tamsin thought it was the old Lauren again. It wasn't until Lauren didn't react to the touch, she didn't move into the valkyrie's palm, did Tamsin remember everything that had happened in the past few weeks.

“The guard came and told him of someone matching the description of Bo and Dyson in the facility, causing a ruckus,” Lauren continued, looking down at the valkyrie with little interest in her brown eyes.

“Not giving a shit about anything, but you still say ridiculous words like ruckus,” Tamsin whispered with playful finality, her mind willing her body to move to the side of the table she lay on. It responded only by allowing her to sit up, and she used her arms to swing her legs over the side in which Lauren stood at. Looking into the human's eyes, at the height of the table and of Tamsin's height even when sitting down, they were finally at eye level with each other, and the valkyrie took a deep breath. “Do you trust me, Lauren?”

The human's eyebrow raised in question but she thought it over slowly in what was left of her mind. Looking back toward the woman, she said, “Yes, I think I do.”

Tamsin looked into the human's eyes again, really looked there, and nodded her head as she bent downward. “Good,” she said, as she looked up slowly. “I love you, Lauren.”

“...I love-”

Tamsin moved faster than the human could ever follow. One moment the blonde was on the table and the next, her hand was wrapped around Lauren's mouth and nose tightly so that no air could get into her lungs. Lauren quickly brought up her hands, hitting Tamsin's hand harshly to release her, and trying to claw at the woman's arm as her left was around Lauren's neck, holding her closer to her palm.

“I'm sorry, Lauren,” Tamsin whispered, her throat constricted and eyes bloodshot with unshed tears as she moved her head beside Lauren's in the curvature of her neck, “I have to do this. I don't have any other choice...”

Lauren increasingly felt her lungs feel as if they were going to burst, but, for whatever reason, she couldn't seem to care more than the initial panic of death. Now, as the realization dawned on her that she was going to die, she simply... accepted it. Her hands went to her sides and she faintly heard Tamsin let out a gasp of heartache as the human heard the beating in her ears dwindle slowly from her.

She was about to lose consciousness, forever, and Lauren Lewis just couldn't seem to care.

+++

_“Come on, how far can I go with the foreplay?”_

_“Tamsin,” Lauren laughed as she turned and scooped the eggs over into the skillet. The blonde looked over to her lover and raised an eyebrow; she really must have worked Tamsin out as the woman's hair was so deliciously messy from rolling around on the bed. It was the first time, the only time, Tamsin had spent the night in the doctor's bed after a night of extracurricular activities and the latter was loving cooking breakfast for the woman. But goodness, Lauren had thought sarcastically, did that mean they were actually a couple._

_“Hey, you may be a total freak in the bed, I would have no idea. Some chicks dig knives in bed, yeah, you heard me right, knives.” Tamsin nodded as Lauren turned and looked at her with a disbelieving smile on her lips. “Some like to be strangled, and even some like to be spanked.” Tamsin looked down Lauren's curved body and tried to imagine her soft skin underneath. “Please tell me you like to be spanked.”_

_“I'm not listening,” Lauren sang as she chopped up the last bits of egg in the pan to make them scrambled. There was silence in the kitchen for a little while as Tamsin smirked and looked out of the french door windows and Lauren cooked. Then, “I wouldn't want to be strangled.”_

_Tamsin turned, her eyes pinned on the back of the human's head, and she looked suddenly serious. The way her lover had said the words were not playful any longer, more like deathly cold and exact; making sure Tamsin knew she wasn't kidding._

_“Why?”_

_“Why?” Lauren asked, turning after placing the newly done eggs onto a different burner so they wouldn't be overcooked._

_“There's got to be a reason why you don't like being strangled.” Tamsin's green eyes pierced brown. “So what is it?”_

_“I just...”_

_“You don't have to say,” Tamsin said after the silence, her eyes trailing back towards the doors and looking outside. It was a beautiful morning and she didn't want to sour it with inquiries that would ruin her lover's mood._

_“No, I...” Lauren waited for Tamsin to look at her again and she smiled halfheartedly, “I'm a doctor, Tamsin. I know almost every name for death, symptom, and finally the result of demise in the book. There are a lot of ways I would hate to die from, but strangulation is always the number one mark on that list.”_

_“It's scary, isn't it.” She didn't have to ask as she knew just how scary it could be; to be strangled, to see your assailant and be able to do nothing about it. To try to fight back, but it was only futile. Trying to break free as you feel your lungs ache and burn from the obstruction of air. To feel your life slowly drift away from you... Strangulation simply wasn't a way to go._

_Lauren smiled and shook her head, turning back toward the eggs and hash browns, “So no kinky choking in bed.”_

_Tamsin laughed at the human's perky tone, and didn't let the slight fear from her voice impede the day, and she got up and came behind the human. Holding her waist in her hands, Tamsin placed her head next to her ear as she swayed her there._

_“Absolutely no strangulation. But spanking is totally still in.”_

+++

“Cum mors, regeneratio. Cum mors, eam mentem. Dimittam, eam revertetur ad me. Dimittam eam,”* Tamsin whispered the spell taught to her by Trick himself, her tears now stinging her face as she bent over an unmoving Lauren, shaking away her memories of the happy days her and the human had shared together and the secret that had been explained. Her cheek was still warm, it would still be warm for another six hours, and Tamsin wanted to caress that part of her, hold onto her warmth, for days. “Please,” she whispered after a few moments, “come back to me. You don't get to come into my life, fuck my head around, and then get to leave. You don't get that pleasure, so wake the hell up.”

When Lauren didn't comply, when her eyes were still closed loosely in death, Tamsin took her hand and held it to her forehead.

She sniffled and said, “Please, don't leave me again.”

Tamsin let out a rush of air when a few more minutes passed with no movement from her lover, no sign of any type of synapses firing, and she wondered briefly of what scientific thing Lauren would tell her about the brain if she would just wake the hell up.

“You have to get up,” Tamsin said to herself as she looked down toward Lauren. “Ætta is counting on you. The succubus, the stupid wolf, they're all counting on you.”

_They were counting on you to bring Lauren back alive._

Shut up.

_They don't care whether you live or not._

Stop talking.

_You failed, Acacia told you not to fall for them, and now look. You murdered her. That's all you're good at._

I said stop talking!

_Murderer..._

Tamsin was about to throw up her hands, punch the steel table with her knuckles and hear the metal bend before her power, but a small, oh so small, cough and sputter suddenly stopped her.

“Baby...”

The valkyrie's eyes snapped open immediately and she looked down to the woman she cared about for the first time since she had lived. Curling her fingers into the woman's luscious blonde hair, and looking into soft brown eyes that seemed dazed and confused, Tamsin whispered the one name she could say forever and it would never lose it's meaning to her or her heart: “Lauren?”

Lauren, it was really Lauren, reached up a hand and caressed the side of the valkyrie's cheek lovingly. “Honey, why are you crying?”

A cry erupted from Tamsin's lips and she quickly grabbed the back of Lauren's head, and swiftly brought the woman up to her. Sinking her lips into the lithe of skin between the woman's neck and shoulder, Tamsin moved her forehead down to lay there instead as she tried to breath in the Lauren she had fallen in love with. Wiping away most of her tears, Tamsin shot her head up and looked into those brown eyes.

“They're not dim,” Tamsin said, her own giddiness getting the better of her, and she laughed a hearty laugh. Moving in suddenly, the valkyrie brought their lips together and tasted Lauren, her Lauren, with want and greed, and with passion and love. Pulling away, Tamsin looked into the human's confused eyes, and she slowly brought her thumb to caress the woman's cheek over and over again. “You'll remember it soon, but all you need to know now is that you're back. And I love you, I love you very much.” It was almost pleading, wanting, final.

“And I love you, Tamsin,” Lauren said as she moved her hand to play with the wisps of hair running down Tamsin's back from her escaped bun.

“I-um- I need you to come with me, Lauren. We need to go get Bo, Dyson and Ætta.”

Lauren, who didn't remember anything that had happened in the last week, though bits of memory jumped out at her every few seconds, looked up at Tamsin as she stood and nodded. She had been in too many fae related events, and battles ever since she met Bo, that the human was completely accepting and compliant when she was told anything from a lover or close friend.

Taking Tamsin's hand, Lauren stood up and looked around the surgical room. Instead of questioning anything, that would come later, the human simply shut down her over questioning mind, and allowed Tamsin to pull her out of the room and into a long run of hallways. She raised an eyebrow in question when she saw multiple injured fae around her in the halls, and she wanted briefly to stop and tend to their wounds, but Tamsin pulled her along faster.

Looking around quickly, Lauren made a face when Tamsin pulled them into a jog, and soon- faster than even Lauren thought was possible from the maze like structure of the building- they were near the door that they were most likely searching for.

“What did Lauren do to you?” The human heard someone only matching Bo's voice ask, the shock in her tone was very real to the approaching couple.

A laughing, out of breath, man was heard just as they turned the corner into the room and Lauren, and Tamsin, came face to face with the man that was speaking, “I'm reborn. I'm fae!”

Lauren's mind swiftly cut to her piercing Tamsin with a syringe and she had to lean on the valkyrie and hold her head slightly. The human shooed her lover away when she regained control of her own mind, and looked up at the man she remembered to be Isaac Taft. She had remembered turning him into fae, of taking bone marrow from one donor to the other, but there was something just out of reach of her mind that she knew had to have been important to the battle unfolding.

“You tortured my progeny, you kidnapped someone I care about, you really think you can go with me?” Lauren heard Tamsin ask the man as she moved into the room. Her mind must have been wandering more than she had thought as Bo and Dyson had both said her name, and a full conversation between Tamsin and Isaac had commenced.

“Lady Tamsin, don't,” a young girl standing somewhat beside and behind Bo said, her brunette hair falling down her shoulders in curtains.

“Ætta, I promised I'd protect you after that rider almost killed you,” Tamsin said, getting lost in her own memory, “I won't let you be harmed ever again. I promise.”

“You shouldn't make promises you can't keep,” Isaac said, his throat filled with laughter as he moved strangely trying to adjust to his new body.

Lauren noticed all too slowly that the man was holding a sharp looking knife in his hand, and thought of what Tamsin was going to do for she had none.

“I-I can cast doubt over an entire room, surely,” Taft was saying, his hand coming up to point the knife at every participant in the library, “and then I'll kill you all.” He smiled and suddenly his eyes sunk into his skull, his cheeks turning pale and sunken.

That's what it was, Lauren thought as it finally clicked in her mind what was just out of reach, the research and bone marrow.

“It wasn't from who he thinks,” Lauren whispered as no one in the room was affected once whatsoever by Taft's new found ability.

“W-what, why aren't you all doubting yourself right now!” Taft yelled angrily, his body jutting out every which way as he tried to control his temper.

“It wasn't from Tamsin, a healthy valkyrie,” Lauren said much louder, looking at everyone in the room with solemn brown eyes. “It was from the girl, a younger, sicker valkyrie than Tamsin herself.”

“But I saw you take her marrow... you implanted it into me!”

“No, you saw me take something from her. I switched the syringes out when you were ranting about how much more you'd be with the ability. Don't you remember, Isaac? I ordered you to get me bandages and a syringe with antibiotics to help me save the girl's life.” Lauren pointed slightly to Ætta and looked back toward Taft.

“No, that's not, no. No!” Taft became more agitated as he saw Dyson advance on him suddenly.

“Stop,” Tamsin said immediately, halting any advance the wolf would have on the newly turned fae, “he's mine.”

“Please, I'll get you whatever you want, I have money, contacts, I can give you everything!” Taft pleaded, his hands up as if surrendering.

“You've threatened them for the last time.” Tamsin's eyes burned with rage and she swiftly kicked out the man's leg, making him spin around and go down on one knee, and she let out a war cry when she placed her hands on either side of his head at different angles. Breaking his neck was easier, much easier, than Tamsin would have ever thought possible with her once dwindling strength, and she watched as the turned fae's body fell to the floor in death.

She stood there, staring at the man's corpse and into oblivion, until she was shocked out of it by her name being said by her progeny.

“Lady Tamsin?” Ætta asked, her gray eyes falling to the dead man and back up to the vibrant green of her mentor.

Tamsin turned suddenly and went to hold Ætta's hands. Her words were deliberate, slow, as she looked into the girl's eyes, “I promise I will never let anyone hurt you ever again, do you understand me?”

“I-I understand, Tamsin-sister.”

The valkyrie-maiden's eyes slowly looked into her charge's, and she kissed her hands slightly after she found the answer to be appealing. Looking up at Bo and Dyson she said, “There are all kinds of wounded fae outside wandering the halls. If we don't round them up, the stragglers of guards may kill them.”

“We'll round them up,” Dyson offered, his hands going to Bo's back and pressing her lightly toward the door.

“What about my mom?” Bo asked, looking back toward Dyson with questions in her eyes.

“Aife is here?” Lauren asked, her ears perking up from the mature succubus' name. She had never met the woman, nor did she remember her time with her earlier that day, so consequently would not know what she looked like; but there would have been some moments where Bo would have brought her up in a conversation in bed together when they were still a couple.

“She's trapped in a cell,” Bo said, looking at Lauren with what could have only been concern and love, “I was going to get the key code from Taft's body and get her out.”

“Bo,” Dyson said, his blue eyes turning sad, “we can handle the round up of the fae, and you get your mother. We'll meet up with you at the Dal.”

“Sounds like a plan,” the succubus said as she moved to Taft's dead body, ripping his key card from his form, and exiting the room with one last glance at a recovered Lauren.

Tamsin cracked her knuckles and said, “Let's get these fae to safety.”

+++

“Where is Ætta today?” Tamsin asked as she came downstairs to see only her girlfriend in the living area bent over a microscope.

“She's at the light fae compound, Tamsin,” Lauren answered, her voice raising an octave like it always did when she was busy and couldn't be interrupted easily.

“What for?”

“She needed a blood sample drawn so I can see if she's healing correctly. Isaac put a lot of harsh reacting chemicals in her bloodstream and I need to see if they're all eradicated,” Lauren answered in more detail to assuage her lover. The valkyrie had been constantly asking up on Lauren, if the human spent too long at the light fae compound that Hale so graciously allowed her to continue to work at, and Ætta when the young valkyrie was not in the apartment and the human knew from the past two weeks after the events that they had all gone through exactly what to say to appease the valkyrie.

Tamsin seemed to be calmed and she moved to the kitchen in search of the food she had come downstairs to retrieve. Lauren watched sidelong from her microscope, making sure the cells she was examining wouldn't randomly turn, and watched as Tamsin got a bowl of cereal in her favorite large green bowl. The woman had been slightly different ever since the compound two weeks prior, and she wished she knew what she could do about it. Every day the human would get bits and pieces of her memory back of the week she had forgotten, and every day she seemed to be apologizing more constantly.

Though, she thought, that wouldn't have made Tamsin act so protective of the two women in the apartment. There had been Tamsin protective and _crazy_ Tamsin protective, and for the past couple of weeks it had been the latter. At some points Lauren would have to calm Tamsin from doing anything rash, as the woman would get so upset and difficult to control, towards the human's assistant who usually took Ætta's blood; claiming that the harpy hurt her unnecessarily when taking the liquid from the girl's veins.

The human watched Tamsin pour a bowl of cereal with her right hand and she quickly thought of how, when they had finally gotten back to their home, Lauren had immediately gotten her medicine bag and put ointment onto the wound before bandaging it properly. She had seen that the wound was a nasty one, it would probably scar, and it was up to Lauren to not let that happen.

Her mind flowed towards the loving actions between the two women and she smiled slightly, a genuine smile she hadn't really shown in the last few weeks. Almost every night, if Ætta wasn't in the apartment, Tamsin and Lauren would have a bit of... fun. It had taken her only a few days to remember the girl calling Tamsin her commander, and Lauren oh so loved to use the title during sex, laughing for her commander to do all the fun little things to her or she'd have to go to the higher ups. Tamsin would smile wickedly and oblige the human, oh would the valkyrie oblige her.

Lauren's mind drifted to Bo after placing a finger on her lip and smiling slightly, as it usually did a few times every week, for fear of what she was going through. After finally finding her mother, Aife, she had gone back to her cell but had only found a large pool of blood in front of the confinement unit with no succubus inside. Bo had been so distraught, almost any connection with her when in the Dal Riata- that Lauren would stop by sometimes when handing off paperwork to Trick or Dyson- was minimal at best, and the succubus barely registered Lauren.

Thinking of Trick and Dyson, Lauren thought, she had to get her files she had been accumulating for them on the science of turning a human into fae. Lauren had wanted to get rid of the files forever, making her the soul person who could, in the recent time frame, successfully redo the experiment, but the two older fae had wanted her original data on the subject. She knew Trick would most likely keep it locked away in some hidden vault he owned, so it didn't much hinder her consciousness to give him the research.

Lauren was pushed from her thoughts when she heard two sets of phones go off almost simultaneously. Turning her chair, that usually wasn't there and she mostly stood, to the right a little, she sighed as she looked at the caller ID that read “Blocked” and she groaned at who could be calling her. She clicked the “Talk” button and put the phone to her ear as she watched Tamsin do the same with her own phone in the kitchen; her mouth munched happily on the cereal she had just poured and it made Lauren smile as she heard the line connect.

Turning away from the valkyrie, Lauren said, “This is Dr. Lewis, whom may I ask is speaking?”

“The Morrigan, sweet cheeks.”

Lauren sighed internally. “What can I do-”

“Cut the crap, darling. I'm calling in the favor you owe me.”

“From the spell that would have had a losing outcome from me using to begin with?” Lauren asked, offended at the audacity the Morrigan had.

“I didn't know the spell had a piggy back curse until you used it; regardless, you still owe me a favor, human.”

Lauren sighed again and pinched the bridge of her nose. “And what is the favor, Evony?”

“Shit's about to hit the fan, and I want you, no matter what, to keep me alive at any cost to you.”

“That's the favor?” Lauren's voice rose an octave as she questioned the insanity of the dark fae leader. “Morrigan, with all due respect-”

“Lauren,” Tamsin interrupted, coming over after placing her phone back into her pocket, “we have to go. Now, Lauren!” The valkyrie almost yanked the phone out of her lover's hand and switched it off as well, before grabbing Lauren's arm and pulling her to her feet.

“Tamsin, slow down, what's wrong?” Lauren asked as she was ushered into Tamsin's old pickup truck.

“It's Ætta,” the valkyrie said, her breath coming in short gasps as she started the car and tore out of the parking lot, “she called me crying, saying she was scared. We need to get to her.”

“Tamsin,” Lauren tried to calm her girlfriend, “we're not going to make it there if you keep driving so sporadically like this. Calm down, baby.”

“What if she's hurt,” Tamsin said, completely ignoring her lover, “I told her I wouldn't allow anyone to hurt her again.”

Lauren slowly and deliberately said, “Tamsin, she is in the light fae compound and she's being worked on by one of my best assistants. Bellan would never harm Ætta, Tamsin.”

“That harpy has always had it out for me ever since I brought you in almost dead. She might be trying to get back at me...” Was all Tamsin said, her eyes pinned to the road, and Lauren had to hold onto the seat belt she wore to keep herself semi calm from the horn blares that rang out every moment. She didn't let her mind drift to the Morrigan's favor call in, and she continued to watch her lover sidelong.

Finally getting to the compound, Tamsin barely put the truck in park before she was jumping out of it, and once her feet hit the ground, the valkyrie was off sprinting to the facility. Lauren called for her multiple times, but the Icelandic blonde didn't seem to hear her as she ran, and the human had to begin her own sprint toward the compound to have any hope of defusing the obvious tension and limit of communications between the two fae that were most likely squaring off with heated glares.

Just as Lauren entered the long stone hallway that led to her lab, she heard screams that sounded like they were from her assistant, and Lauren, who didn't think she would have to hurry that much, immediately sprinted down the echoing halls.

“Tamsin,” Lauren said, getting into the lab and assessing the situation.

Or whatever the situation she could assess.

Ætta was on one of the tables, her arm bleeding from multiple attempts at putting in a needle and not finding a vein, and she briefly wondered why Bellan had not given her something to stop the bleeding immediately. That was, however, until Lauren's brown eyes washed over what was keeping her assistant held up.

Tamsin was staring at the harpy with such an intense glare, Lauren wondered briefly if there was a way to kill someone with just a stare, and as the human continued to watch the situation unfold, she found her answer.

The valkyrie's eyes were not sunken in, her face was not pale, and her eyes seemed to burn an intense violet color instead of it's natural black when using her valkyrie powers.

“Take the needle,” Tamsin whispered, her eyes never leaving the blue of the harpy's, “and slit your throat.”

“Tamsin, stop!” Lauren yelled, her mind not comprehending what the valkyrie, the woman she loved, was ordering Bellan to do.

“She hurt Ætta,” Tamsin said, “no one will hurt either of you ever again. When they do, this is what happens.” The valkyrie's head tilted to the right slightly and Lauren could see her face scrunch up and fall like she always did when she was playing at sarcastic, or wanting something, “I said do it.”

Lauren watched in horror as Bellan took the needle in her hand, her crystal blue eyes showing only fear but unable to stop herself, and moved it up to the left side of her throat.

“Please, stop!” Lauren screamed one last time, but it was nothing but futile.

Bellan's eyes never left Tamsin's when she began, with such force that spurts of blood came pouring from her neck immediately, moving the needle across her throat.

Lauren did not stop screaming, she tried to move but she found herself stuck in place, and she did not see Ætta's hands fly to her mouth in horror.

Tamsin's face held only rage and anger, and she did not hear her lover scream bloody murder for a person she cared for.

There was nothing but screams and blood, as it squelched upon the floor. Lauren felt her arms suddenly restrained behind her back, strands of fallen hair raining down into her eyes, as the fae guards for the compound filtered through the door. Their combat boots hit the tiles and stone with echoing thuds, and Lauren wanted to scream at them to run for their lives. Run before-

Tamsin suddenly turned, and saw her lover trying to be toted out of the long doors. Her teeth bared into a grimace, her eyes widening as she took in the situation, and then...

And then the bloodbath began again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *"With her death, rebirth. With her death, her mind. Release her back to me. Release her."
> 
> Whoa, hot damn! Thanks for sticking with me and these two blondes for this long! All the reviews, all the comments, all the love everyone has given this story makes me so thankful to have all of y'all following. You're amazing and great and thank you so much! This is an author hug from me to you.
> 
> But wait, there's more. Check out the sequel Serenity Falls in stores now!


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